Local Ecological Knowledge and Biological Conservation: Post-normal Science as an Intercultural Field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorje Ignacio Zalles

2017-09-01

Full Text Available From a natural sciences perspective, efforts directed at the conservation of biodiversity are based upon what is known as conservation biology. Given its epistemological assumptions, conservation biology faces obstacles in the incorporation of wisdom originating in local ecological knowledge, that which a local population has gained about the local environment which it is surrounded by and due to its direct contact with this local environment, instead of the result of a product of a positivist scientific inquiry. Post-normal science has emerged in recent decades as an alternative for public management that aims to complement the search for knowledge by means of empirical approaches through the inclusion of understandings based on the everyday experiences and the subjective interpretation of natural phenomena, transcending the compartmentalization associated with scientific traditions born out of modernity. This article discusses the integration of local ecological knowledge and conservation biology from the perspective of post normal science, illustrating different forms of intercultural communication that would make the requisite dialogue of knowledges possible.

Transdisciplinary knowledge integration : cases from integrated assessment and vulnerability assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hinkel, J.

2008-01-01

Keywords: climate change, integrated assessment, knowledge integration, transdisciplinary research, vulnerability, vulnerability assessment.
This thesis explores how transdisciplinary knowledge integration can be facilitated in the context of integrated assessments and vulnerability

Knowledge Sharing Across Global-Local Boundaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zølner, Mette

The paper explores how locals span boundaries between corporate and local levels. The aim is to better comprehend potentialities and challenges when MNCs draws on locals’ culture specific knowledge. The study is based on an in-depth, interpretive case study of boundary spanning by local actors in...... approach with pattern matching is a way to shed light on the tacit local knowledge that organizational actors cannot articulate and that an exclusively inductive research is not likely to unveil....

Women care about local knowledge, experiences from ethnomycology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garibay-Orijel Roberto

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Gender is one of the main variables that influence the distribution of local knowledge. We carried out a literature review concerning local mycological knowledge, paying special attention to data concerning women’s knowledge and comparative gender data. We found that unique features of local mycological knowledge allow people to successfully manage mushrooms. Women are involved in every stage of mushroom utilization from collection to processing and marketing. Local mycological knowledge includes the use mushrooms as food, medicine, and recreational objects as well as an aid to seasonal household economies. In many regions of the world, women are often the main mushroom collectors and possess a vast knowledge about mushroom taxonomy, biology, and ecology. Local experts play a vital role in the transmission of local mycological knowledge. Women participate in the diffusion of this knowledge as well as in its enrichment through innovation. Female mushroom collectors appreciate their mycological knowledge and pursue strategies and organization to reproduce it in their communities. Women mushroom gatherers are conscious of their knowledge, value its contribution in their subsistence systems, and proudly incorporate it in their cultural identity.

In defence of local knowledge: A theoretical reflection | Higgs ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Indigenous African knowledge systems are concerned with local knowledge. But the question that this raises is how valid is such local knowledge? Can such local knowledge be generalized and claim universal validity? Or stated differently, what is the epistemic foundation of local knowledge? This article sets out to reflect ...

Representation and integration of sociological knowledge using knowledge graphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Popping, R; Strijker, [No Value

1997-01-01

The representation and integration of sociological knowledge using knowledge graphs, a specific kind of semantic network, is discussed. Knowledge it systematically searched this reveals. inconsistencies, reducing superfluous research and knowledge, and showing gaps in a theory. This representation

Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Ecological Science: a Question of Scale

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Catherine A. Gagnon

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The benefits and challenges of integrating traditional ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge have led to extensive discussions over the past decades, but much work is still needed to facilitate the articulation and co-application of these two types of knowledge. Through two case studies, we examined the integration of traditional ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge by emphasizing their complementarity across spatial and temporal scales. We expected that combining Inuit traditional ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge would expand the spatial and temporal scales of currently documented knowledge on the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus and the greater snow goose (Chen caerulescens atlantica, two important tundra species. Using participatory approaches in Mittimatalik (also known as Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Canada, we documented traditional ecological knowledge about these species and found that, in fact, it did expand the spatial and temporal scales of current scientific knowledge for local arctic fox ecology. However, the benefits were not as apparent for snow goose ecology, probably because of the similar spatial and temporal observational scales of the two types of knowledge for this species. Comparing sources of knowledge at similar scales allowed us to gain confidence in our conclusions and to identify areas of disagreement that should be studied further. Emphasizing complementarities across scales was more powerful for generating new insights and hypotheses. We conclude that determining the scales of the observations that form the basis for traditional ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge represents a critical step when evaluating the benefits of integrating these two types of knowledge. This is also critical when examining the congruence or contrast between the two types of knowledge for a given subject.

An Integrated Knowledge Management System

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Vasile Mazilescu

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present a Knowledge Management System based on Fuzzy Logic (FLKMS, a real-time expert system to meet the challenges of the dynamic environment. The main feature of our integrated shell FLKMS is that it models and integrates the temporal relationships between the dynamic of the evolution of an economic process with some fuzzy inferential methods, using a knowledge model for control, embedded within the expert system’s operational knowledge base.

Enhancing Students’ Local Knowledge Through Themed Garden Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esa Norizan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional or local knowledge is a major issue to be focused on, particularly since the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the Aichi Targets “Living in Harmony with Nature”. According to the strategic goals, by 2020, conservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use incorporate what local and indigenous communities have within their traditional knowledge, innovation and practice and their customary use of biological resources are respected at all relevant levels. The older generation among the local people usually use medicinal herbs for various ailments, health care and other cultural purposes. However, encroaching industrialization and the changes in today’s life styles are responsible for the decreasing practice in the local use of herbs especially for healing purposes. It is, therefore, felt worthwhile to encourage young generations such as school children to gain knowledge about these local herbs and record the native uses of these herbs before the information is lost. One biodiversity education program was conducted to facilitate secondary school students to set up a themed garden and find out the local knowledge of the plants they grew in their garden from their family members or communities. The findings revealed that students’ local knowledge on healing improved after they joined the program. Therefore, it is proposed that the themed garden project can enhance students’ local knowledge.

Knowledge Integration Reconceptualized from an Integrationist Perspective

OpenAIRE

Taxén, Lars

2012-01-01

The concept of knowledge integration remains on precarious ontological and epistemological grounds. Hence, the purpose of this contribution is to suggest a reconceptualization of knowledge integration from the integrationist perspective proposed by the English linguist Roy Harris. In this view, all knowledge is internally generated by the human capacity for sign-making and hence, knowledge arises from creative attempts to integrate the various activities of which human are capable of. Integra...

Integrating pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical/psychological knowledge in mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Harr, Nora; Eichler, Andreas; Renkl, Alexander

2014-01-01

In teacher education at universities, general pedagogical and psychological principles are often treated separately from subject matter knowledge and therefore run the risk of not being applied in the teaching subject. In an experimental study (N = 60 mathematics student teachers) we investigated the effects of providing aspects of general pedagogical/psychological knowledge (PPK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in an integrated or separated way. In both conditions (“integrated” vs. “separated”), participants individually worked on computer-based learning environments addressing the same topic: use and handling of multiple external representations, a central issue in mathematics. We experimentally varied whether PPK aspects and PCK aspects were treated integrated or apart from one another. As expected, the integrated condition led to greater application of pedagogical/psychological aspects and an increase in applying both knowledge types simultaneously compared to the separated condition. Overall, our findings indicate beneficial effects of an integrated design in teacher education. PMID:25191300

Intracultural Differences in Local Botanical Knowledge and Knowledge Loss among the Mexican Isthmus Zapotecs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfredo Saynes-Vásquez

Full Text Available This study reports on the socio-demographic and locality factors that influence ethnobiological knowledge in three communities of Zapotec indigenous people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. It uses local botanical nomenclature as a proxy for general ethnobiological knowledge. In each of these communities (one urban and two rural, 100 adult men were interviewed aided with a field herbarium. Fifty had a background in farming, and 50 worked in the secondary or tertiary sector as their main economic activity, totaling 300 interviews. Using a field herbarium with samples of 30 common and rare wild regional species, we documented visual recognition, knowledge of the local life form, generic and specific names and uses (five knowledge levels measuring knowledge depth. The relationship between sociodemographic variables and knowledge was analyzed with simple correlations. Differences between the three communities and the five knowledge levels were then evaluated with a discriminant analysis. A general linear analysis identified factors and covariables that influenced the observed differences. Differences between the groups with different economic activities were estimated with a t-test for independent samples. Most of the relationships found between sociodemographic variables and plant knowledge were expected: age and rurality were positively related with knowledge and years of formal schooling was negatively related. However, the somewhat less rural site had more traditional knowledge due to local circumstances. The general linear model explained 70-77% of the variation, a high value. It showed that economic activity was by far the most important factor influencing knowledge, by a factor of five. The interaction of locality and economic activity followed. The discriminant analysis assigned interviewees correctly to their localities in 94% of the cases, strengthening the evidence for intracultural variation. Both sociodemographic and historic

Challenges of knowledge integration in small and medium enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kavoos Mohannak

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to develop a better understanding of the challenges of knowledge integration (KI within the innovation process in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs. Using several case studies, this study investigates how knowledge integration may be managed within the context of innovation in SMEs. The research places particular focus on identifying the challenges of knowledge integration in SMEs in relation to three aspects of knowledge integration activities, namely knowledge identification, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge sharing. Four distinct tasks emerged in the knowledge integration process, namely team building capability, capturing tacit knowledge, role of knowledge management (KM systems, and technological systemic integration. The paper suggests that managing knowledge integration in SMEs can be best managed by focusing on these four tasks, which in turn will lead to innovation.

Knowledge integration, teamwork and performance in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Körner, Mirjam; Lippenberger, Corinna; Becker, Sonja; Reichler, Lars; Müller, Christian; Zimmermann, Linda; Rundel, Manfred; Baumeister, Harald

2016-01-01

Knowledge integration is the process of building shared mental models. The integration of the diverse knowledge of the health professions in shared mental models is a precondition for effective teamwork and team performance. As it is known that different groups of health care professionals often tend to work in isolation, the authors compared the perceptions of knowledge integration. It can be expected that based on this isolation, knowledge integration is assessed differently. The purpose of this paper is to test these differences in the perception of knowledge integration between the professional groups and to identify to what extent knowledge integration predicts perceptions of teamwork and team performance and to determine if teamwork has a mediating effect. The study is a multi-center cross-sectional study with a descriptive-explorative design. Data were collected by means of a staff questionnaire for all health care professionals working in the rehabilitation clinics. The results showed that there are significant differences in knowledge integration within interprofessional health care teams. Furthermore, it could be shown that knowledge integration is significantly related to patient-centered teamwork as well as to team performance. Mediation analysis revealed partial mediation of the effect of knowledge integration on team performance through teamwork. PRACTICAL/IMPLICATIONS: In practice, the results of the study provide a valuable starting point for team development interventions. This is the first study that explored knowledge integration in medical rehabilitation teams and its relation to patient-centered teamwork and team performance.

Indigenous Knowledge, Science, and Resilience: What Have We Learned from a Decade of International Literature on "Integration"?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin L. Bohensky

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Despite the increasing trend worldwide of integrating indigenous and scientific knowledge in natural resource management, there has been little stock-taking of literature on lessons learned from bringing indigenous knowledge and science together and the implications for maintaining and building social-ecological system resilience. In this paper we investigate: (1 themes, questions, or problems encountered for integration of indigenous knowledge and science; (2 the relationship between knowledge integration and social-ecological system resilience; and (3 critical features of knowledge integration practice needed to foster productive and mutually beneficial relationships between indigenous knowledge and science. We examine these questions through content analyses of three special journal issues and an edited book published in the past decade on indigenous, local, and traditional knowledge and its interface with science. We identified broad themes in the literature related to: (1 similarities and differences between knowledge systems; (2 methods and processes of integration; (3 social contexts of integration; and (4 evaluation of knowledge. A minority of papers discuss a relationship between knowledge integration and social-ecological system resilience, but there remains a lack of clarity and empirical evidence for such a relationship that can help distinguish how indigenous knowledge and knowledge integration contribute most to resilience. Four critical features of knowledge integration are likely to enable a more productive and mutually beneficial relationship between indigenous and scientific knowledge: new frames for integration, greater cognizance of the social contexts of integration, expanded modes of knowledge evaluation, and involvement of inter-cultural "knowledge bridgers."

The objectivity of local knowledge. Lessons from ethnobiology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ludwig, David

2017-01-01

This article develops an account of local epistemic practices on the basis of case studies from ethnobiology. I argue that current debates about objectivity often stand in the way of a more adequate understanding of local knowledge and ethnobiological practices in general. While local knowledge

The Objectivity of Local Knowledge: Lessons From Ethnobiology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ludwig, D.J.

2017-01-01

This article develops an account of local epistemic practices on the basis of case studies from ethnobiology. I argue that current debates about objectivity often stand in the way of a more adequate understanding of local knowledge and ethnobiological practices in general. While local knowledge

COGMIR: A computer model for knowledge integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Z.X.

1988-01-01

This dissertation explores some aspects of knowledge integration, namely, accumulation of scientific knowledge and performing analogical reasoning on the acquired knowledge. Knowledge to be integrated is conveyed by paragraph-like pieces referred to as documents. By incorporating some results from cognitive science, the Deutsch-Kraft model of information retrieval is extended to a model for knowledge engineering, which integrates acquired knowledge and performs intelligent retrieval. The resulting computer model is termed COGMIR, which stands for a COGnitive Model for Intelligent Retrieval. A scheme, named query invoked memory reorganization, is used in COGMIR for knowledge integration. Unlike some other schemes which realize knowledge integration through subjective understanding by representing new knowledge in terms of existing knowledge, the proposed scheme suggests at storage time only recording the possible connection of knowledge acquired from different documents. The actual binding of the knowledge acquired from different documents is deferred to query time. There is only one way to store knowledge and numerous ways to utilize the knowledge. Each document can be represented as a whole as well as its meaning. In addition, since facts are constructed from the documents, document retrieval and fact retrieval are treated in a unified way. When the requested knowledge is not available, query invoked memory reorganization can generate suggestion based on available knowledge through analogical reasoning. This is done by revising the algorithms developed for document retrieval and fact retrieval, and by incorporating Gentner's structure mapping theory. Analogical reasoning is treated as a natural extension of intelligent retrieval, so that two previously separate research areas are combined. A case study is provided. All the components are implemented as list structures similar to relational data-bases.

Assessing local knowledge use in agroforestry management with cognitive maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac, Marney E; Dawoe, Evans; Sieciechowicz, Krystyna

2009-06-01

Small-holder farmers often develop adaptable agroforestry management techniques to improve and diversify crop production. In the cocoa growing region of Ghana, local knowledge on such farm management holds a noteworthy role in the overall farm development. The documentation and analysis of such knowledge use in cocoa agroforests may afford an applicable framework to determine mechanisms driving farmer preference and indicators in farm management. This study employed 12 in-depth farmer interviews regarding variables in farm management as a unit of analysis and utilized cognitive mapping as a qualitative method of analysis. Our objectives were (1) to illustrate and describe agroforestry management variables and associated farm practices, (2) to determine the scope of decision making of individual farmers, and (3) to investigate the suitability of cognitive mapping as a tool for assessing local knowledge use. Results from the cognitive maps revealed an average of 16 +/- 3 variables and 19 +/- 3 links between management variables in the farmer cognitive maps. Farmer use of advantageous ecological processes was highly central to farm management (48% of all variables), particularly manipulation of organic matter, shade and food crop establishment, and maintenance of a tree stratum as the most common, highly linked variables. Over 85% of variables included bidirectional arrows, interpreted as farm management practices dominated by controllable factors, insofar as farmers indicated an ability to alter most farm characteristics. Local knowledge use on cocoa production revealed detailed indicators for site evaluation, thus affecting farm preparation and management. Our findings suggest that amid multisourced information under conditions of uncertainty, strategies for adaptable agroforestry management should integrate existing and localized management frameworks and that cognitive mapping provides a tool-based approach to advance such a management support system.

Assessing Local Knowledge Use in Agroforestry Management with Cognitive Maps

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac, Marney E.; Dawoe, Evans; Sieciechowicz, Krystyna

2009-06-01

Small-holder farmers often develop adaptable agroforestry management techniques to improve and diversify crop production. In the cocoa growing region of Ghana, local knowledge on such farm management holds a noteworthy role in the overall farm development. The documentation and analysis of such knowledge use in cocoa agroforests may afford an applicable framework to determine mechanisms driving farmer preference and indicators in farm management. This study employed 12 in-depth farmer interviews regarding variables in farm management as a unit of analysis and utilized cognitive mapping as a qualitative method of analysis. Our objectives were (1) to illustrate and describe agroforestry management variables and associated farm practices, (2) to determine the scope of decision making of individual farmers, and (3) to investigate the suitability of cognitive mapping as a tool for assessing local knowledge use. Results from the cognitive maps revealed an average of 16 ± 3 variables and 19 ± 3 links between management variables in the farmer cognitive maps. Farmer use of advantageous ecological processes was highly central to farm management (48% of all variables), particularly manipulation of organic matter, shade and food crop establishment, and maintenance of a tree stratum as the most common, highly linked variables. Over 85% of variables included bidirectional arrows, interpreted as farm management practices dominated by controllable factors, insofar as farmers indicated an ability to alter most farm characteristics. Local knowledge use on cocoa production revealed detailed indicators for site evaluation, thus affecting farm preparation and management. Our findings suggest that amid multisourced information under conditions of uncertainty, strategies for adaptable agroforestry management should integrate existing and localized management frameworks and that cognitive mapping provides a tool-based approach to advance such a management support system.

An Integrated Model of Knowledge Acquisition and Innovation: Examining the Mediation Effects of Knowledge Integration and Knowledge Application

Science.gov (United States)

Dahiyat, Samer E.

2015-01-01

The aim of this research is to empirically investigate the relationships among the three vital knowledge management processes of acquisition, integration and application, and their effects on organisational innovation in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Jordan; a knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) sector. Structural equation…

National ecosystem assessments supported by scientific and local knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Herrick, J.E.; Lessard, V.C.; Spaeth, K.E.; Shaver, P.L.; Dayton, R.S.; Pyke, D.A.; Jolley, L.; Goebel, J.J.

2010-01-01

An understanding of the extent of land degradation and recovery is necessary to guide land-use policy and management, yet currently available land-quality assessments are widely known to be inadequate. Here, we present the results of the first statistically based application of a new approach to national assessments that integrates scientific and local knowledge. Qualitative observations completed at over 10 000 plots in the United States showed that while soil degradation remains an issue, loss of biotic integrity is more widespread. Quantitative soil and vegetation data collected at the same locations support the assessments and serve as a baseline for monitoring the effectiveness of policy and management initiatives, including responses to climate change. These results provide the information necessary to support strategic decisions by land managers and policy makers. ?? The Ecological Society of America.

Integrating Indigenous Traditional, Local and Scientific Knowledge for Improved Management, Policy and Decision-Making in Reindeer Husbandry in the Russian Arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Maynard, Nancy G.; Yurchak, Boris; Turi, Johan Mathis; Mathiesen, Svein D.; Aissi-Wespi, Rita L.

2004-01-01

As scientists and policy-makers from both indigenous and non-indigenous communities begin to build closer partnerships to address common sustainability issues such as the health impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities, it becomes increasingly important to create shared information management systems which integrate all relevant factors for optimal information sharing and decision-making. This paper describes a new GIs-based system being designed to bring local and indigenous traditional knowledge together with scientific data and information, remote sensing, and information technologies to address health-related environment, weather, climate, pollution and land use change issues for improved decision/policy-making for reindeer husbandry. The system is building an easily-accessible archive of relevant current and historical, traditional, local and remotely-sensed and other data and observations for shared analysis, measuring, and monitoring parameters of interest. Protection of indigenous culturally sensitive information will be respected through appropriate data protocols. A mechanism which enables easy information sharing among all participants, which is real time and geo-referenced and which allows interconnectivity with remote sites is also being designed into the system for maximum communication among partners. A preliminary version of our system will be described for a Russian reindeer test site, which will include a combination of indigenous knowledge about local conditions and issues, remote sensing and ground-based data on such parameters as the vegetation state and distribution, snow cover, temperature, ice condition, and infrastructure.

Contributions of local knowledge to the physical limnology of Lake Como, Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Laborde, Sarah; Imberger, Jörg; Toussaint, Sandy

2012-04-24

This article shows how local knowledge may be valuably integrated into a scientific approach in the study of large and complex hydrological systems where data collection at high resolution is a challenge. This claim is supported through a study of the hydrodynamics of a large lake where qualitative data collected from professional fishers was combined with theory to develop a hypothesis that was then verified by numerical modeling. First the fishermen's narratives were found to describe with accuracy internal wave motions that were evident in water column temperature records, which revealed their practical knowledge of the lake's hydrodynamics. Second, local knowledge accounts emphasized the recurrent formation of mesoscale gyres and return flows in certain zones of the lake in stratified conditions, which did not appear in the physical data because of limitations of sampling resolution. We hypothesized that these features developed predominantly because of the interaction of wind-driven internal motions with the lake's bathymetry, and the Earth's rotation in the widest areas of the basin. Numerical simulation results corroborated the fishers' descriptions of the flow paths and supported the hypothesis about their formation. We conclude that the collaboration between scientific and local knowledge groups, although an unusual approach for a physical discipline of the geosciences, is worth exploring in the pursuit of a more comprehensive understanding of complex geophysical systems such as large lakes.

Towards an Integrative Model of Knowledge Transfer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.; Heslop, Ben

This paper aims to contribute towards the advancement of an efficient architecture of a single market for knowledge through the development of an integrative model of knowledge transfer. Within this aim, several points of departure can be singled out. One, the article builds on the call of the Eu......This paper aims to contribute towards the advancement of an efficient architecture of a single market for knowledge through the development of an integrative model of knowledge transfer. Within this aim, several points of departure can be singled out. One, the article builds on the call...... business and academia, and implementing the respective legislature are enduring. The research objectives were to explore (i) the process of knowledge transfer in universities, including the nature of tensions, obstacles and incentives, (ii) the relationships between key stakeholders in the KT market...... of the emergent integrative model of knowledge transfer. In an attempt to bring it to a higher level of generalizability, the integrative model of KT is further conceptualized from a ‘sociology of markets’ perspective resulting in an emergent architecture of a single market for knowledge. Future research...

Mapping local knowledge of hazards to inform research, practice and policy in the Americas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coles, Ashley; Eosco, Gina; Norton, Todd; Ruiz, Jorge; Tate, Eric; Weathers, Melinda

2011-01-01

Hazards are fundamentally understood and experienced spatially; therefore, it is not surprising that hazards research, management, communication, and policy have relied heavily on spatial representations using geomatics tools such as remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). As powerful and useful as these tools have been, they tend to privilege the collection and utilization of quantifiable data at the expense of qualitative data (e.g., experiential local knowledge). Local knowledge has been increasingly used both to challenge and to supplement mapping strategies, although less so in the realm of hazards than in other areas such as natural resource management. In this paper, we propose a unique framework for taking these approaches one-step further through the development of a knowledge management system that integrates local knowledge of hazards with spatial visualization tools. First, we discuss relevant literature related to current tools and practices for visualizing hazard information. Next we propose a methodology for mapping mental models of individuals. Finally, we discuss the potential applications of such a framework for hazards research, practice, and policy, as well as discuss the challenges associated with this framework.

Local Knowledge and Community–Based Assessment of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Although much scientific knowledge exists about global environmental ... to an understanding of local knowledge on environmental change through Community Risk ... Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were employed for data collection and ...

Local Knowledge and Livelihood Sustainability: The Role of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper drew on new anthropological and social perspectives on institutions for exploring the nexus between local knowledge and the sustainability of rural agriculture in north-eastern Ghana. In particular, it analysed the role that tacit local knowledge, explicit in indigenous and non-indigenous institutions play in the ...

Integrating ethnobiological knowledge into biodiversity conservation in the Eastern Himalayas.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neill, Alexander R; Badola, Hemant K; Dhyani, Pitamber P; Rana, Santosh K

2017-03-29

Biocultural knowledge provides valuable insight into ecological processes, and can guide conservation practitioners in local contexts. In many regions, however, such knowledge is underutilized due to its often-fragmented record in disparate sources. In this article, we review and apply ethnobiological knowledge to biodiversity conservation in the Eastern Himalayas. Using Sikkim, India as a case study, we: (i) traced the history and trends of ethnobiological documentation; (ii) identified priority species and habitat types; and, (iii) analyzed within and among community differences pertaining to species use and management. Our results revealed that Sikkim is a biocultural hotspot, where six ethnic communities and 1128 species engage in biocultural relationships. Since the mid-1800s, the number of ethnobiological publications from Sikkim has exponentially increased; however, our results also indicate that much of this knowledge is both unwritten and partitioned within an aging, gendered, and caste or ethnic group-specific stratum of society. Reviewed species were primarily wild or wild cultivated, native to subtropical and temperate forests, and pend IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessment. Our results demonstrate the value of engaging local knowledge holders as active participants in conservation, and suggest the need for further ethnobiological research in the Eastern Himalayas. Our interdisciplinary approach, which included rank indices and geospatial modelling, can help integrate diverse datasets into evidence-based policy.

Empirical knowledge engine of local governance Senegalese artisanal fisheries Empirical knowledge engine of local governance Senegalese artisanal fisheries

Science.gov (United States)

Mbaye, A.

2016-02-01

Fishery resources has always been an administrative management faced with the supposed irrationality of artisanal fishermen and the state has always had a monopoly over such management. The state rules well established, synonyms of denial local populations knowledge on management, and expropriation of their fisheries territories, came into conflict with the existing rules thus weakening the traditional management system.However, aware of the threats to their survival because of the limitations of state rules and technicist perception of management, some populations of fishermen tried to organize and implement management measures.These measures are implemented on the basis of their own knowledge of the environmentsThis is the case in Kayar, Nianing, Bétenty, where local management initiatives began to bear fruit despite some difficulties.These examples of successful local management have prompted the Senegalese administration to have more consideration for the knowledge and know-how of fishermen and to be open to co-management of the fisheries resource. his communication shows how this is implemented new co-management approach in the governance of the Senegalese artisanal fisheries through the consideration of empirical knowledge of fishermen.

Fuzzy knowledge bases integration based on ontology

OpenAIRE

Ternovoy, Maksym; Shtogrina, Olena

2012-01-01

the paper describes the approach for fuzzy knowledge bases integration with the usage of ontology. This approach is based on metadata-base usage for integration of different knowledge bases with common ontology. The design process of metadata-base is described.

Integrated knowledge translation: digging deeper, moving forward.

Science.gov (United States)

Kothari, Anita; Wathen, C Nadine

2017-06-01

Integrated knowledge translation has risen in popularity as a solution to the underuse of research in policy and practice settings. It engages knowledge users-policymakers, practitioners, patients/consumers or their advocates, and members of the wider public-in mutually beneficial research that can involve the joint development of research questions, data collection, analysis and dissemination of findings. Knowledge that is co-produced has a better chance of being implemented. The purpose of this paper is to update developments in the field of integrated knowledge translation through a deeper analysis of the approach in practice-oriented and policy-oriented health research. We present collaborative models that fall outside the scope of integrated knowledge translation, but then explore consensus-based approaches and networks as alternate sites of knowledge co-production. We discuss the need to advance the field through the development, or use, of data collection and interpretation tools that creatively engage knowledge users in the research process. Most importantly, conceptually relevant outcomes need to be identified, including ones that focus on team transformation through the co-production of knowledge. We explore some of these challenges and benefits in detail to help researchers understand what integrated knowledge translation means, and whether the approach's potential added value is worth the investment of time, energy and other resources. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Untangling knowledge creation and knowledge integration in enterprise wikis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beck, Roman; Rai, Arun; Fischbach, Kai

2015-01-01

A central challenge organizations face is how to build, store, and maintain knowledge over time. Enterprise wikis are community-based knowledge systems situated in an organizational context. These systems have the potential to play an important role in managing knowledge within organizations......, but the motivating factors that drive individuals to contribute their knowledge to these systems is not very well understood. We theorize that enterprise wiki initiatives require two separate and distinct types of knowledge-sharing behaviors to succeed: knowledge creation (KC) and knowledge integration (KI). We...... examine a Wiki initiative at a major German bank to untangle the motivating factors behind KC and KI. Our results suggest KC and KI are indeed two distinct behaviors, reconcile inconsistent findings from past studies on the role of motivational factors for knowledge sharing to establish shared electronic...

Knowledge-sharing Behavior and Post-acquisition Integration Failure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gammelgaard, Jens; Husted, Kenneth; Michailova, Snejina

2004-01-01

AbstractNot achieving the anticipated synergy effects in the post-acquisition integration context is a serious causefor the high acquisition failure rate. While existing studies on failures of acquisitions exist fromeconomics, finance, strategy, organization theory, and human resources management......, this paper appliesinsights from the knowledge-sharing literature. The paper establishes a conceptual link between obstaclesin the post-acquisition integration processes and individual knowledge-sharing behavior as related toknowledge transmitters and knowledge receivers. We argue that such an angle offers...... important insights toexplaining the high failure rate in acquisitions.Descriptors: post-acquisition integration, acquisition failure, individual knowledge-sharing behavior...

Integrating indigenous games and knowledge into Physical Education

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Integrating indigenous games and knowledge into Physical Education: Implications for ... The aim of this study was to analyse indigenous Zulu games towards integrating indigenous game skill and knowledge ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Interactive Knowledge Co-Production and Integration for Healthy Urban Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rehana Shrestha

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The transformation of cities towards healthy urban living environments for all is a challenge that needs to be addressed through collaboration of all relevant sectors in a transdisciplinary research processes. This paper reports on the design and showcase implementation of a methodological approach, named Interactive Spatial Understanding Support System (ISUSS, that is intended to support interactive knowledge co-production and integration among practitioners and researcher in a specific local context. The approach involves the combined use of interactive maps on a MapTable and a rich picture. The goal is to stimulate, articulate and map stakeholders’ knowledge on environmental health issues to come to a shared problem understanding. Drawing on the rich seam of data gathered over the reflexive engagement with the participants in Dortmund, Germany, we explored incidences of a transdisciplinary process. Findings suggest that the approach has the potential to encourage communication and social learning geared towards a shared understanding of the holistic problem situation. Whilst locally embedded spatial knowledge was shared using interactive maps on the MapTable, the rich picture elicited issues linked to wider geographical scale as well as non-spatial drivers. The paper concludes discussing research needs to further explore the approach among various other groups, including citizens.

Sustainability in China: Bridging Global Knowledge with Local Action

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Bing Xue

2015-03-01

Full Text Available As the biggest emerging and developing country, and the second largest economy on the planet, China’s road to sustainability has attracted global attention; therefore, we need to have a deeper understanding to address this issue at very different levels. This editorial mainly reviews the contributions of the published papers in the Special Issue of “Sustainability in China: Bridging Global Knowledge with Local Action”, the main findings in this special edition suggest that the concept of sustainability is more comprehensive and complex, and the transformation process from scientific knowledge to local action still has a long way to go, not only in China, but also in many developing countries. More research on the fundamental and innovative processes of sustainable transformations should be conducted. China needs to make more efforts to strengthen its road to sustainability, by merging all relevant types of knowledge, both within and outside science, as well as locally and globally.As the biggest emerging and developing country, and the second largest economy on the planet, China's road to sustainability has attracted global attention; therefore, we need to have a deeper understanding to address this issue at very different levels. This editorial mainly reviews the contributions of the published papers in the Special Issue of "Sustainability in China: Bridging Global Knowledge with Local Action", the main findings in this special edition suggest that the concept of sustainability is more comprehensive and complex, and the transformation process from scientific knowledge to local action still has a long way to go, not only in China, but also in many developing countries. More research on the fundamental and innovative processes of sustainable transformations should be conducted. China needs to make more efforts to strengthen its road to sustainability, by merging all relevant types of knowledge, both within and outside science, as well as

Overcoming Knowledge Gaps in Postmerger Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alaranta, Maria Eliisa; Martela, Eero

2012-01-01

Over 50% of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) fail, mainly because of integration problems. In such integrations, much of the experiential (learning-by-doing) knowledge critical for running the business becomes redundant or is lost. However, we know virtually nothing about what type of mechanisms...

Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Cooperative: can local knowledge inform caribou management?

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Don E. Russell

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false SV X-NONE X-NONE While quantitative analyses have traditionally been used to measure overall caribou herd health, qualitative observational data can also provide timely information that reflects what people on the land are observing. The Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Co-op (ABEKC monitors ecological change in the range of the Porcupine Caribou Herd (PCH. The community-based monitoring component of the Co-op’s mandate involves the gathering of local knowledge through interviews with local experts in a number of communities.We analyzed the responses to interviews collected during 2000–2007 related to caribou availability, harvest success, meeting needs and caribou health during fall and spring. Interviews revealed 1 caribou greater availability during the survey period, 2 an increasing trend in the proportion of harvesters that met their needs 3 no trend in animals harvested or proportion of successful hunters and 4 improving overall caribou health throughout the period.There was no population estimate for the herd between 2001 and 2010. In 2001, 123,000 caribou were estimated in the herd. Based on an estimated 178,000 in 1989, a declining trend of ~ 3% annually occurred at least until 2001. In the interim agencies and boards feared the herd continued to decline and worked towards and finalized a Harvest Management Plan for the herd. In contrast, from the Co-op interviews all indications suggested improving herd conditions throughout most of the decade. A successful survey in 2010 determined the herd had grown to 169,000 animals. We conclude that the community-based interviews provided a valid, unique information source to better understand caribou ecology and express community perceptions of overall herd status and could provide a valuable contribution to management decision making.  We recommend that ABEKC results become standard input into Porcupine Caribou harvest management decisions and serve as a

Rapid ecosystem change challenges the adaptive capacity of Local Environmental Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro; Díaz-Reviriego, Isabel; Luz, Ana C; Cabeza, Mar; Pyhälä, Aili; Reyes-García, Victoria

2015-03-01

The use of Local Environmental Knowledge has been considered as an important strategy for adaptive management in the face of Global Environmental Change. However, the unprecedented rates at which global change occurs may pose a challenge to the adaptive capacity of local knowledge systems. In this paper, we use the concept of the shifting baseline syndrome to examine the limits in the adaptive capacity of the local knowledge of an indigenous society facing rapid ecosystem change. We conducted semi-structured interviews regarding perceptions of change in wildlife populations and in intergenerational transmission of knowledge amongst the Tsimane', a group of hunter-gatherers of Bolivian Amazonia ( n = 300 adults in 13 villages). We found that the natural baseline against which the Tsimane' measure ecosystem changes might be shifting with every generation as a result of (a) age-related differences in the perception of change and (b) a decrease in the intergenerational sharing of environmental knowledge. Such findings suggest that local knowledge systems might not change at a rate quick enough to adapt to conditions of rapid ecosystem change, hence potentially compromising the adaptive success of the entire social-ecological system. With the current pace of Global Environmental Change, widening the gap between the temporal rates of on-going ecosystem change and the timescale needed for local knowledge systems to adjust to change, efforts to tackle the shifting baseline syndrome are urgent and critical for those who aim to use Local Environmental Knowledge as a tool for adaptive management.

Local Conceptualisation of Nature, Forest Knowledge Systems and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Conventional forest and natural resource management tend to overshadow local forest management practices and ecological knowledge on which rural communities base their survival and livelihood strategies. This article examines how rural communities conceptualize nature, what forest knowledge systems they use and ...

Semantic Health Knowledge Graph: Semantic Integration of Heterogeneous Medical Knowledge and Services

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Longxiang Shi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the explosion of healthcare information, there has been a tremendous amount of heterogeneous textual medical knowledge (TMK, which plays an essential role in healthcare information systems. Existing works for integrating and utilizing the TMK mainly focus on straightforward connections establishment and pay less attention to make computers interpret and retrieve knowledge correctly and quickly. In this paper, we explore a novel model to organize and integrate the TMK into conceptual graphs. We then employ a framework to automatically retrieve knowledge in knowledge graphs with a high precision. In order to perform reasonable inference on knowledge graphs, we propose a contextual inference pruning algorithm to achieve efficient chain inference. Our algorithm achieves a better inference result with precision and recall of 92% and 96%, respectively, which can avoid most of the meaningless inferences. In addition, we implement two prototypes and provide services, and the results show our approach is practical and effective.

Integrated learning: Ways of fostering the applicability of teachers’ pedagogical and psychological knowledge

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Nora eHarr

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In teacher education, general pedagogical and psychological knowledge is often taught separately from the teaching subject itself, potentially leading to inert knowledge. In an experimental study with 69 mathematics student teachers, we tested the benefits of fostering the integration of pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical and psychological knowledge with respect to knowledge application. Integration was fostered either by integrating the contents or by prompting the learners to integrate separately-taught knowledge. Fostering integration, as compared to a separate presentation without integration help, led to more applicable pedagogical and psychological knowledge and greater simultaneous application of pedagogical and psychological knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. The advantages of fostering knowledge integration were not moderated by the student teachers’ prior knowledge or working memory capacity. A disadvantage of integrating different knowledge types referred to increased learning times.

The Impact of Organizational Knowledge Integrators on Cooperative R&D Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bulathsinhala, Nadika

2014-01-01

This paper addresses the fact that R&D projects that incorporate external knowledge sources not only depend on the number of sources, but also on integrating the right source. An organizational knowledge integrator has a natural interest due to its position in the value chain and the technology...... phase to pull the knowledge from earlier phases of development closer towards commercialization. The aim of the paper is to examine if organizational knowledge integrators in R&D projects have a positive impact on innovative performance compared to projects that do not involve a knowledge integrator...

GIS and local knowledge in disaster management: a case study of flood risk mapping in Viet Nam.

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Phong; Shaw, Rajib; Chantry, Guillaume; Norton, John

2009-03-01

Linking community knowledge with modern techniques to record and analyse risk related data is one way of engaging and mobilising community capacity. This paper discusses the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) at the local level and the need for integrating modern technology and indigenous knowledge into disaster management. It suggests a way to mobilise available human and technical resources in order to strengthen a good partnership between local communities and local and national institutions. The paper also analyses the current vulnerability of two communes by correlating hazard risk and loss/damage caused by disasters and the contribution that domestic risk maps in the community can make to reduce this risk. The disadvantages, advantages and lessons learned from the GIS flood risk mapping project are presented through the case study of the Quang Tho Commune in Thua Thien Hue province, central Viet Nam.

Local Knowledge and Conservation of Seagrasses in the Tamil Nadu State of India

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Newmaster AF

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Local knowledge systems are not considered in the conservation of fragile seagrass marine ecosystems. In fact, little is known about the utility of seagrasses in local coastal communities. This is intriguing given that some local communities rely on seagrasses to sustain their livelihoods and have relocated their villages to areas with a rich diversity and abundance of seagrasses. The purpose of this study is to assist in conservation efforts regarding seagrasses through identifying Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK from local knowledge systems of seagrasses from 40 coastal communities along the eastern coast of India. We explore the assemblage of scientific and local traditional knowledge concerning the 1. classification of seagrasses (comparing scientific and traditional classification systems, 2. utility of seagrasses, 3. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK of seagrasses, and 4. current conservation efforts for seagrass ecosystems. Our results indicate that local knowledge systems consist of a complex classification of seagrass diversity that considers the role of seagrasses in the marine ecosystem. This fine-scaled ethno-classification gives rise to five times the number of taxa (10 species = 50 local ethnotaxa, each with a unique role in the ecosystem and utility within coastal communities, including the use of seagrasses for medicine (e.g., treatment of heart conditions, seasickness, etc., food (nutritious seeds, fertilizer (nutrient rich biomass and livestock feed (goats and sheep. Local communities are concerned about the loss of seagrass diversity and have considerable local knowledge that is valuable for conservation and restoration plans. This study serves as a case study example of the depth and breadth of local knowledge systems for a particular ecosystem that is in peril. Key words: local health and nutrition, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK, conservation and natural resources management, consensus

A Bayesian network approach to knowledge integration and representation of farm irrigation: 1. Model development

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Q. J.; Robertson, D. E.; Haines, C. L.

2009-02-01

Irrigation is important to many agricultural businesses but also has implications for catchment health. A considerable body of knowledge exists on how irrigation management affects farm business and catchment health. However, this knowledge is fragmentary; is available in many forms such as qualitative and quantitative; is dispersed in scientific literature, technical reports, and the minds of individuals; and is of varying degrees of certainty. Bayesian networks allow the integration of dispersed knowledge into quantitative systems models. This study describes the development, validation, and application of a Bayesian network model of farm irrigation in the Shepparton Irrigation Region of northern Victoria, Australia. In this first paper we describe the process used to integrate a range of sources of knowledge to develop a model of farm irrigation. We describe the principal model components and summarize the reaction to the model and its development process by local stakeholders. Subsequent papers in this series describe model validation and the application of the model to assess the regional impact of historical and future management intervention.

Perceptions of knowledge management: A local government perspective

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Bethuel Sibongiseni Ngcamu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Public sector institutions are grappling to maintain knowledge management cycle which integrates knowledge into different phases as it also incorporates socialization, externalization, combination and internalization model. Whereas, knowledge management could be used as a strategic tool to advance organizational effectiveness and efficiency whilst accelerating service delivery and achieving operational goals. This article seeks to address the bottlenecks as far as knowledge management is concerned by using biographical profiles with the view of promoting the creation and management of knowledge within eThekwini Municipality. The study reflects that the biographical profiles of employees (age, education, race, job level influences their perceptions of the current knowledge management processes and strategies and their implementation and impact on effectiveness.

Seahorses in focus: local ecological knowledge of seahorse-watching operators in a tropical estuary.

Science.gov (United States)

Ternes, Maria L F; Gerhardinger, Leopoldo C; Schiavetti, Alexandre

2016-11-08

Seahorses are endangered teleost fishes under increasing human pressures worldwide. In Brazil, marine conservationists and policy-makers are thus often skeptical about the viability of sustainable human-seahorse interactions. This study focuses on local ecological knowledge on seahorses and the implications of their non-lethal touristic use by a coastal community in northeastern Brazil. Community-based seahorse-watching activities have been carried out in Maracaípe village since 1999, but remained uninvestigated until the present study. Our goal is to provide ethnoecological understanding on this non-extractive use to support seahorse conservation and management. We interviewed 32 informants through semi-structured questionnaires to assess their socioeconomic profile, their knowledge on seahorse natural history traits, human uses, threats and abundance trends. Seahorse-watching has high socioeconomic relevance, being the primary income source for all respondents. Interviewees elicited a body of knowledge on seahorse biology largely consistent with up-to-date research literature. Most informants (65.5 %) perceived no change in seahorse abundance. Their empirical knowledge often surpassed scientific reports, i.e. through remarks on trophic ecology; reproductive aspects, such as, behavior and breeding season; spatial and temporal distribution, suggesting seahorse migration related to environmental parameters. Seahorse-watching operators were aware of seahorse biological and ecological aspects. Despite the gaps remaining on biological data about certain seahorse traits, the respondents provided reliable information on all questions, adding ethnoecological remarks not yet assessed by conventional scientific surveys. We provide novel ethnobiological insight on non-extractive modes of human-seahorse interaction, eliciting environmental policies to integrate seahorse conservation with local ecological knowledge and innovative ideas for seahorse sustainable use. Our study

Evaluation of The Library and Archives of East Java’s Workshop as A Knowledge Sharing Form of Jawatimuran Local Wisdom Preservation

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Ragil Tri atmi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Local wisdom possessed by the East Java is a form of culture that represents the identity of the Jawatimuran that does not shared by other regions, but the social dynamics and development of information technology make the knowledge of local wisdom faded and forgotten, so that the next generation remains to know, love and proud in the culture of their own country, then that knowledge must be preserved. The Library and Archives of East Java has organized several workshops. Those workshops are a form of knowledge sharing as an effort to preserve local wisdom of Jawatimuran through writing. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the workshops conducted by The Library and Archives of East Java. The methodology used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. The results of this study show that knowledge sharing can improve the productivity of the authors and creates integration between authors, publishers and The Library and Archives of East Java in an effort to preserve local wisdom in East Java. The conclusion is that The Library and Archives of East Java should be a bridge for the writers to continue to produce writings based on the local wisdom.

Evaluation of The Library and Archives of East Java’s Workshop as A Knowledge Sharing Form of Jawatimuran Local Wisdom Preservation

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Ragil Tri Atmi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Local wisdom possessed by the East Java is a form of culture that represents the identity of the Jawatimuran that does not shared by other regions, but the social dynamics and development of information technology make the knowledge of local wisdom faded and forgotten, so that the next generation remains to know, love and proud in the culture of their own country, then that knowledge must be preserved. The Library and Archives of East Java has organized several workshops. Those workshops are a form of knowledge sharing as an effort to preserve local wisdom of Jawatimuran through writing. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the workshops conducted by The Library and Archives of East Java. The methodology used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. The results of this study show that knowledge sharing can improve the productivity of the authors and creates integration between authors, publishers and The Library and Archives of East Java in an effort to preserve local wisdom in East Java. The conclusion is that The Library and Archives of East Java should be a bridge for the writers to continue to produce writings based on the local wisdom.

Local knowledge, science, and institutional change: the case of desertification control in Northern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lihua

2015-03-01

This article studies the influence of local knowledge on the impact of science on institutional change in ecological and environmental management. Based on an empirical study on desertification control in 12 counties in north China, the study found the following major results: (1) although there was a cubic relationship between the extent and effect of local knowledge, local knowledge significantly influenced the impact of science on institutional change; (2) local knowledge took effect mainly through affecting formal laws and regulations, major actors, and methods of desertification control in institutional change but had no significant impact on the types of property rights; and (3) local knowledge enhanced the impact of science on the results of desertification control through affecting the impact of science on institutional change. These findings provide a reference for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners, both in China and in other regions of the world, to further explore the influence of local knowledge on the impact of science on institutional change and the roles of local knowledge or knowledge in institutional change and governance.

Integrating ergonomic knowledge into engineering design processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hall-Andersen, Lene Bjerg

Integrating ergonomic knowledge into engineering design processes has been shown to contribute to healthy and effective designs of workplaces. However, it is also well-recognized that, in practice, ergonomists often have difficulties gaining access to and impacting engineering design processes...... employed in the same company, constituted a supporting factor for the possibilities to integrate ergonomic knowledge into the engineering design processes. However, the integration activities remained discrete and only happened in some of the design projects. A major barrier was related to the business...... to the ergonomic ambitions of the clients. The ergonomists’ ability to navigate, act strategically, and compromise on ergonomic inputs is also important in relation to having an impact in the engineering design processes. Familiarity with the engineering design terminology and the setup of design projects seems...

Integrating Traditional and Evolutionary Knowledge in Biodiversity Conservation: a Population Level Case Study

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Dylan J. Fraser

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Despite their dual importance in the assessment of endangered/threatened species, there have been few attempts to integrate traditional ecological knowledge (TEK and evolutionary biology knowledge (EBK at the population level. We contrasted long-term aboriginal TEK with previously obtained EBK in the context of seasonal migratory habits and population biology of a salmonid fish, brook charr, (Salvelinus fontinalis inhabiting a large, remote postglacial lake. Compilation of TEK spanning four decades involved analytical workshops, semidirective interviews, and collaborative fieldwork with local aboriginal informants and fishing guides. We found that TEK complemented EBK of brook charr by providing concordant and additional information about (1 population viability; (2 breeding areas and migration patterns of divergent populations; and (3 the behavioral ecology of populations within feeding areas; all of which may ultimately affect the maintenance of population diversity. Aboriginal concerns related to human pressures on this species, not revealed by EBK, also help to focus future conservation initiatives for divergent populations and to encourage restoration of traditional fishing practices. However, relative to EBK, the relevance of TEK to salmonid biodiversity conservation was evident mainly at a smaller spatial scale, for example, that of individual rivers occupied by populations or certain lake sectors. Nevertheless, EBK was only collected over a 4-yr period, so TEK provided an essential long-term temporal window to evaluate population differences and persistence. We concluded that, despite different conceptual underpinnings, spatially and temporally varying TEK and EBK both contribute to the knowledge base required to achieve sustainability and effective biodiversity conservation planning for a given species. Such integration may be particularly relevant in many isolated regions, where intraspecific diversity can go unrecognized due to sparse

Knowledge representation for integrated plant operation and maintenance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lind, Morten

2010-01-01

Integrated operation and maintenance of process plants has many advantages. One advantage is the improved economy obtained by reducing the number of plant shutdowns. Another is to increase reliability of operation by monitoring of risk levels during on-line maintenance. Integrated plant operation...... and maintenance require knowledge bases which can capture the interactions between the two plant activities. As an example, taking out a component or a subsystem for maintenance during operation will require a knowledge base representing the interactions between plant structure, functions, operating states...... and goals and incorporate knowledge about redundancy and reliability data. Multilevel Flow Modeling can be used build knowledge bases representing plant goals and functions and has been applied for fault diagnosis and supervisory control but currently it does not take into account structural information...

Integrating knowledge and knowledge processes: A critical incident study of product development projects.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen

2012-01-01

Various scholars have argued that knowledge processes in organizations are integrally linked in practice. The extant literature though treats them separately and thereby disregards the interactions and tensions between them. A result of this way of studying knowledge processes is that little is

Coastal Hazards and Integration of Impacts in Local Adaptation Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Knudsen, P.; Sorensen, C.; Molgaard, M. R.; Broge, N. H.; Andersen, O. B.

2016-12-01

Data on sea and groundwater levels, precipitation, land subsidence, geology, and geotechnical soil properties are combined with information on flood and erosion protection measures to analyze water-related impacts from climate change at an exposed coastal location. Future sea extremes will have a large impact but several coupled effects in the hydrological system need to be considered as well to provide for optimal protection and mitigation efforts. For instance, the investment and maintenance costs of securing functional water and wastewater pipes are significantly reduced by incorporating knowledge about climate change. The translation of regional sea level rise evidence and projections to concrete impact measures should take into account the potentially affected stakeholders who must collaborate on common and shared adaptation solutions. Here, knowledge integration across levels of governance and between research, private and public institutions, and the local communities provides: understanding of the immediate and potential future challenges; appreciation of different stakeholder motives, business agendas, legislative constraints etc., and a common focus on how to cost-efficiently adapt to and manage impacts of climate change. By construction of a common working platform that is updated with additional data and knowledge, e.g. from future regional models or extreme events, advances in sea level research can more readily be translated into concrete and local impact measures in a way that handles uncertainties in the future climate and urban development as well as suiting the varying stakeholder needs.

Human-Nature Relationship in Mediterranean Streams: Integrating Different Types of Knowledge to Improve Water Management

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Carla Gonzalez

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The social and ecological systems of Mediterranean streams are intrinsically linked as a result of long human occupation. In this region, these links vary greatly across small distances due to geomorphology, resulting in great diversity across space, which poses particular challenges for understanding and managing these systems. This demands (i interdisciplinary integration of knowledge that focuses on the social-ecological interactions, while according due consideration to the whole; and also (ii transdisciplinary integration, integrating lay and expert knowledge to understand local specificities. To address these needs - a focus on interactions and local knowledge - the research presented here studies the human-nature relationship in Mediterranean streams. Its main objective is to improve understanding of Mediterranean streams, but it also provides practical inputs to enhance local-level management. The study adopts an applied approach from the perspective of natural resources management. A case study was developed conducting field work on streams within the Natura 2000 site of Monfurado, Portugal - a mainly privately owned area with conflicting land uses between conservation and farming. Rivers and streams in Portugal are considered to be in very bad condition, particularly with regard to water quality. The experimental design was based, from a critical realism perspective of inter- and trans-disciplinarity, on the complementarities between methodologies from (i the social sciences: value survey and analysis of discourse; and (ii the natural sciences: biomonitoring and integrity biotic indexes. Results characterized the connected systems from both ecological and social points of view. They also characterized the relationship between both dimensions. We concluded that well-established riparian vegetation cover of streams is a key structural element of the human-nature relationship in the Mediterranean streams of Monfurado at several levels

An exploration of knowledge integration problems in interdisciplinary research teams

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bayerl, P.S.; Steinheider, B.

2009-01-01

The integration of function-specific expertise into a shared knowledge base is a crucial, but complex process for success in interdisciplinary teams. This paper presents an empirically derived typology of knowledge integration problems and links their occurrence to degree of heterogeneity and

Peer Evaluation Can Reliably Measure Local Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-García, Victoria; Díaz-Reviriego, Isabel; Duda, Romain; Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro; Gallois, Sandrine; Guèze, Maximilien; Napitupulu, Lucentezza; Pyhälä, Aili

2016-01-01

We assess the consistency of measures of individual local ecological knowledge obtained through peer evaluation against three standard measures: identification tasks, structured questionnaires, and self-reported skills questionnaires. We collected ethnographic information among the Baka (Congo), the Punan (Borneo), and the Tsimane' (Amazon) to…

Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Risk Management in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

27 mars 2008 ... Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Risk Management in support of Community Based Adaptation. Traditionally, African farmers have used indigenous knowledge to understand weather and climate patterns and make decisions about crop and irrigation cycles. However, increased variability ...

Integrated knowledge base tool for acquisition and verification of NPP alarm systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Joo Hyun; Seong, Poong Hyun

1998-01-01

Knowledge acquisition and knowledge base verification are important activities in developing knowledge-based systems such as alarm processing systems. In this work, we developed the integrated tool, for knowledge acquisition and verification of NPP alarm processing systems, by using G2 tool. The tool integrates document analysis method and ECPN matrix analysis method, for knowledge acquisition and knowledge verification, respectively. This tool enables knowledge engineers to perform their tasks from knowledge acquisition to knowledge verification consistently

Integrals of motion for one-dimensional Anderson localized systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modak, Ranjan; Mukerjee, Subroto; Yuzbashyan, Emil A; Shastry, B Sriram

2016-01-01

Anderson localization is known to be inevitable in one-dimension for generic disordered models. Since localization leads to Poissonian energy level statistics, we ask if localized systems possess ‘additional’ integrals of motion as well, so as to enhance the analogy with quantum integrable systems. We answer this in the affirmative in the present work. We construct a set of nontrivial integrals of motion for Anderson localized models, in terms of the original creation and annihilation operators. These are found as a power series in the hopping parameter. The recently found Type-1 Hamiltonians, which are known to be quantum integrable in a precise sense, motivate our construction. We note that these models can be viewed as disordered electron models with infinite-range hopping, where a similar series truncates at the linear order. We show that despite the infinite range hopping, all states but one are localized. We also study the conservation laws for the disorder free Aubry–Andre model, where the states are either localized or extended, depending on the strength of a coupling constant. We formulate a specific procedure for averaging over disorder, in order to examine the convergence of the power series. Using this procedure in the Aubry–Andre model, we show that integrals of motion given by our construction are well-defined in localized phase, but not so in the extended phase. Finally, we also obtain the integrals of motion for a model with interactions to lowest order in the interaction. (paper)

Engaging plant anatomy and local knowledge on the buriti palm ( Mauritia flexuosa L.f.: Arecaceae): the microscopic world meets the golden grass artisan's perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Viana, Rebeca V. R.; Scatena, Vera L.; Eichemberg, Mayra T.; Sano, Paulo T.

2018-03-01

Considering that both Western Science and Local Knowledge Systems share a common ground—observations of the natural world—the dialogue between them should not only be possible, but fruitful. Local communities whose livelihoods depend on traditional uses of the local biodiversity not only develop knowledge about nature, making several uses of such knowledge, but, with that process, several inquiries about nature can be raised. Here we present our experience with the engagement of Western Science with golden grass artisan's knowledge about the buriti palm ( M. flexuosa). We applied 25 semi-directive interviews, combined with field diary and participative observation, in two quilombola communities from Jalapão region (Central-Brazil). One of the inquiries that emerged from the artisan's perspectives was about the differences between male and female buriti palms' fiber. We then engaged both local and scientific perspectives regarding this issue using plant anatomy as a dialogue instrument. Here we describe this experience and resort to Paulo Freire's ideas on dialogue to argue that, to integrate Western Science and Local Knowledge Systems in a collaborative and contextualized perspective, the research should be faced as a mutual learning practice.

A Sociology of Knowledge Approach to European Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adler-Nissen, Rebecca; Kropp, Kristoffer

2015-01-01

Scholars are deeply involved in the process of European integration, but we lack systematic understanding of this involvement. On the one hand, scholars, academic ideas and ideologies shape European integration and policies (e.g. the Economic and Monetary Union and the free movement of people......). On the other hand, EU institutions, policies and practitioners produce particular forms of knowledge (e.g. the Eurobarometer and benchmarking of national performances) that inform social scientific choices of theories, methods and research topics. Drawing on the new sociology of knowledge as well as Science...

Farmers’ Technical Knowledge about Integrated Pest Management (IPM in Olive Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad S. Allahyari

2017-12-01

Full Text Available While Integrated Pest Management (IPM is a sustainable approach of pest control, contributing to reduced use of pesticides and risks on human health and the environment, farmers have shown limited interest in practicing this method. The present study explored the levels of technical knowledge about integrated management of the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae among olive growers in Roudbar County of Iran and factors underpinning olive farmers’ technical knowledge of integrated management. Data were collected in a survey of olive farmers, on the basis of a structured questionnaire. Almost half of the farmers (48.4% had good to excellent levels of technical knowledge of integrated management, while almost a third of the farmers (35.4% had a moderate knowledge level. However, a noticeable portion of the farmers (15.9% had poor knowledge of integrated management. Moreover, most farmers showed average knowledge of the adverse effects of pesticides on human health. While most farmers showed good levels of social participation, cooperation with institutes, and participation in extension activities, they showed low levels of community involvement (involvement in a group of people that have and share common interests with each other. Olive imports and the lack of a common action for olive fly control were perceived as the main barriers of IPM adoption among most farmers. Regression analysis revealed that increased community involvement, large area under olive farming, participation in education activities, and high farming experience promoted farmers’ technical knowledge of integrated olive fly control. Strengthening growers’ technical knowledge of IPM through community involvement and extension services among inexperienced small-scale olive farmers is recommended for reducing possible unnecessary insecticide sprays in olive production.

Drawing on Dynamic Local Knowledge through Student-Generated Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Coles-Ritchie, Marilee; Monson, Bayley; Moses, Catherine

2015-01-01

In this research, the authors explored how teachers using student-generated photography draw on local knowledge. The study draws on the framework of funds of knowledge to highlight the assets marginalized students bring to the classroom and the need for culturally relevant pedagogy to address the needs of a diverse public school population. The…

Community-based participatory research and integrated knowledge translation: advancing the co-creation of knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Jull, Janet; Giles, Audrey; Graham, Ian D

2017-12-19

Better use of research evidence (one form of "knowledge") in health systems requires partnerships between researchers and those who contend with the real-world needs and constraints of health systems. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and integrated knowledge translation (IKT) are research approaches that emphasize the importance of creating partnerships between researchers and the people for whom the research is ultimately meant to be of use ("knowledge users"). There exist poor understandings of the ways in which these approaches converge and diverge. Better understanding of the similarities and differences between CBPR and IKT will enable researchers to use these approaches appropriately and to leverage best practices and knowledge from each. The co-creation of knowledge conveys promise of significant social impacts, and further understandings of how to engage and involve knowledge users in research are needed. We examine the histories and traditions of CBPR and IKT, as well as their points of convergence and divergence. We critically evaluate the ways in which both have the potential to contribute to the development and integration of knowledge in health systems. As distinct research traditions, the underlying drivers and rationale for CBPR and IKT have similarities and differences across the areas of motivation, social location, and ethics; nevertheless, the practices of CBPR and IKT converge upon a common aim: the co-creation of knowledge that is the result of knowledge user and researcher expertise. We argue that while CBPR and IKT both have the potential to contribute evidence to implementation science and practices for collaborative research, clarity for the purpose of the research-social change or application-is a critical feature in the selection of an appropriate collaborative approach to build knowledge. CBPR and IKT bring distinct strengths to a common aim: to foster democratic processes in the co-creation of knowledge. As research

Ethics, Collaboration, and Presentation Methods for Local and Traditional Knowledge for Understanding Arctic Change

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, M. A.; Gearheard, S.; McNeave, C.

2009-12-01

Local and traditional knowledge (LTK) provides rich information about the Arctic environment at spatial and temporal scales that scientific knowledge often does not have access to (e.g. localized observations of fine-scale ecological change potentially from many different communities, or local sea ice and conditions prior to 1950s ice charts and 1970s satellite records). Community-based observations and monitoring are an opportunity for Arctic residents to provide ‘frontline’ observations and measurements that are an early warning system for Arctic change. The Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) was established in response to the growing number of community-based and community-oriented research and observation projects in the Arctic. ELOKA provides data management and user support to facilitate the collection, preservation, exchange, and use of local observations and knowledge. Managing these data presents unique ethical challenges in terms of appropriate use of rare human knowledge and ensuring that knowledge is not lost from the local communities and not exploited in ways antithetical to community culture and desires. Local Arctic residents must be engaged as true collaborative partners while respecting their perspectives, which may vary substantially from a western science perspective. At the same time, we seek to derive scientific meaning from the local knowledge that can be used in conjunction with quantitative science data. This creates new challenges in terms of data presentation, knowledge representations, and basic issues of metadata. This presentation reviews these challenges, some initial approaches to addressing them, and overall lessons learned and future directions.

Collaborative Knowledge Building and Integral Theory: On Perspectives, Uncertainty, and Mutual Regard

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Murray

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Uncertainty in knowing and communicating affect all aspects of modern life. Ubiquitous and inevitable uncertainty, including ambiguity and paradox, is particularly salient and important in knowledge building communities. Because knowledge building communities represent and evolve knowledge explicitly, the causes, effects, and approaches to this “epistemological indeterminacy” can be directly addressed in knowledge building practices. Integral theory’s approach (including “methodological pluralism” involves accepting and integrating diverse perspectives in ways that transcend and include them. This approach accentuates the problems of epistemological indeterminacy and highlights the general need to deal creatively with it. This article begins with a cursory analysis of textual dialogs among integral theorists, showing that, while integral theory itself points to leading-edge ways of dealing with epistemological indeterminacy, the knowledge building practices of integral theorists, by and large, exhibit the same limitations as traditional intellectual discourses. Yet, due to its values and core methods, the integral theory community is in a unique position to develop novel and more adequate modes of inquiry and dialog. This text explores how epistemological indeterminacy impacts the activities and products of groups engaged in collaborative knowledge building. Approaching the issue from three perspectives–mutual understanding, mutual agreement, and mutual regard—I show the interdependence of those perspectives and ground them in relation to integral theory’s concerns. This article proposes three phases of developing constructive alternatives drawn from the knowledge building field: awareness of the phenomena, understanding the phenomena, and offering some tools (and some hope for dealing with it. Though here I focus on the integral theory community (or communities, the conclusions of the article are meant to be applicable to any

Collaborative Knowledge Building and Integral Theory:On Perspectives,Uncertainty, and Mutual Regard

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Murray

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Uncertainty in knowing and communicating affect all aspects of modern life. Ubiquitous and inevitable uncertainty, including ambiguity and paradox, is particularly salient and important in knowledge building communities. Because knowledge building communities represent and evolve knowledge explicitly, the causes, effects, and approaches to this “epistemological indeterminacy” can be directly addressed in knowledge building practices. Integral theory's approach (including “methodological pluralism” involves accepting and integrating diverse perspectives in ways that transcend and include them. This approach accentuates the problems of epistemological indeterminacy and highlights the general need to deal creatively with it. This article begins with a cursory analysis of textual dialogs among integral theorists, showing that, while integral theory itself points to leading-edge ways of dealing with epistemological indeterminacy, the knowledge building practices of integral theorists, by and large, exhibit the same limitations as traditional intellectual discourses. Yet, due to its values and core methods, the integral theory community is in a unique position to develop novel and more adequate modes of inquiry and dialog. This text explores how epistemological indeterminacy impacts the activities and products of groups engaged in collaborative knowledge building. Approaching the issue from three perspectives—mutual understanding, mutual agreement, and mutual regard—I show the interdependence of those perspectives and ground them in relation to integral theory’s concerns. This article proposes three phases of developing constructive alternatives drawn from the knowledge building field: awareness of the phenomena, understanding the phenomena, and offering some tools (and some hope for dealing with it. Though here I focus on the integral theory community (or communities, the conclusions of the article are meant to be applicable to any

Tapping into community wisdom and integrating local knowledge into revitalization efforts

Science.gov (United States)

Local decision-making is sometimes considered a puzzle by research ecologists, resource managers, and policy researchers. The eternal hope is to find that model or concept that provides the “right” information to support local environmental decisions. Researchers have...

Local knowledge and economic importance of Mondia whitei ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Local knowledge of many medicinal lianas that support rural people health in Africa remains poorly documented leaving incomplete understanding of their pharmacological and economic importance. This information is however critical to conserve target species and design formal management strategies. This study aimed ...

An integrative approach to knowledge transfer and integration: Spanning boundaries through objects, people and processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duijn, M.; Rijnveld, M.

2008-01-01

Knowledge transfer and integration is the main challenge in many knowledge management projects. This challenge follows from the observation that it is difficult to determine how and what knowledge may transfer from one person to another, from one team to another and from one network or organization

Localized synthesis, assembly and integration of silicon nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Englander, Ongi

Localized synthesis, assembly and integration of one-dimensional silicon nanowires with MEMS structures is demonstrated and characterized in terms of local synthesis processes, electric-field assisted self-assembly, and a proof-of-concept nanoelectromechanical system (HEMS) demonstration. Emphasis is placed on the ease of integration, process control strategies, characterization techniques and the pursuit of integrated devices. A top-down followed by a bottom-up integration approach is utilized. Simple MEMS heater structures are utilized as the microscale platforms for the localized, bottom-up synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructures. Localized heating confines the high temperature region permitting only localized nanostructure synthesis and allowing the surroundings to remain at room temperature thus enabling CMOS compatible post-processing. The vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process in the presence of a catalytic nanoparticle, a vapor phase reactant, and a specific temperature environment is successfully employed locally. Experimentally, a 5nm thick gold-palladium layer is used as the catalyst while silane is the vapor phase reactant. The current-voltage behavior of the MEMS structures can be correlated to the approximate temperature range required for the VLS reaction to take place. Silicon nanowires averaging 45nm in diameter and up to 29mum in length synthesized at growth rates of up to 1.5mum/min result. By placing two MEMS structures in close proximity, 4--10mum apart, localized silicon nanowire growth can be used to link together MEMS structures to yield a two-terminal, self-assembled micro-to-nano system. Here, one MEMS structure is designated as the hot growth structure while a nearby structure is designated as the cold secondary structure, whose role is to provide a natural stopping point for the VLS reaction. The application of a localized electric-field, 5 to 13V/mum in strength, during the synthesis process, has been shown to improve nanowire

Learning knowledge as an integral part of competencies in higher education: Effects on students' knowledge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Bommel, Marijke; Boshuizen, Els; Kwakman, Kitty

2011-01-01

Van Bommel, M., Boshuizen, H. P. A., & Kwakman, K. (2010, 25-27 August). Learning knowledge as an integral part of competencies in higher education: Effects on students' knowledge. Paper presented at the 5th EARLI-SIG14 Learning and Professional Development, Munich, Germany.

The Integration of Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Blanco

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The exponential growth of knowledge demands an interdisciplinary reflection on how to integrate the different branches of the natural sciences and the humanities into a coherent picture of world, life, and mind. Insightful intellectual tools, like evolutionary Biology and Neuroscience, can facilitate this project. It is the task of Philosophy to identify those fundamental concepts whose explanatory power can illuminate the thread that leads from the most elementary realities to the most complex spheres. This article aims to explore the importance of the ideas of conservation, selection, and unification for achieving the goal.

Eliciting and Applying Local Research Knowledge for Peacebuilding ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

gs

Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) are pleased to announce a jointly-funded research initiative Eliciting and Applying Local Research. Knowledge for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding. The research initiative seeks to increase the level of recognition and ...

Exploring the Malaysian Rural School Teachers' Professional Local Knowledge in Enhancing Students' Thinking Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Jamil, Hazri; Arbaa, Rohani; Ahmad, Mohamad Zohir

2017-01-01

This paper discussed a qualitative research findings on the case of Malaysian teachers employed their professional local knowledge for enhancing students' thinking skills in classroom practices. In this paper, a teacher's professional local knowledge is viewed as a teacher's professional knowledge and skills developed through the combination of…

The development of learning competency and skills for the 21st century to integrate "TPCK" of world life with local environment in students grade 11

Science.gov (United States)

Jedaman, Pornchai; Kinboon, Nittayaporn; Suksup, Chareon; Kinboon, Wutcharapong

2018-01-01

The teaching strategies of append were the technological pedagogical content knowledge; TPCK. This description knowledge in a content to corresponds of a effective teaching. This article aims to address the relevance of; 1) the learning competency and skills for the 21st Century to integrate "TPCK" of a world life with local environment in the students grade 11, 2) the effective achievement of the learning competency and skills to integrate "TPCK" of world life with local environment in the students grade 11 were the passing score of a percentage 80 upwards (EI.), and 3) the attitudes for learning activities in the students grade 11. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches for 9teachers of third schools were the participatory action research (PAR) in collecting data including a instructional, a testing, and a questionnaire surveywith 33 students grade 11 of Phuwiengwittayakom school. The participants werecluster random sampling. The data analysis of descriptive statistical, percentage, mean average, standard deviation. The findings in the study were to learning competency and skills for the 21st Century to integrate "TPCK" of a world life with local environment on TK, PK, CK, and TCK at a excellent levels (X¯ = 3.62, 3.57, 3.54, 3.51) respectively, and PCK, TPK,TPCK at a good levels (X¯ = 3.36, 3.23, 3.17) respectively. The effective achievement of the learning competency and skills to integrate "TPCK" of world life with local environment in 30 students grade 11 were the passing score (EI.) of a percentage at 90.91. The attitudes for learning activities in the students grade 11 at a high levels (X¯ =3.29). In addition of the students grade 11 to understanding of the importance were a local learning resources including the value integrating technology of the knowledge technology and to choose the right were create of an effective information.

The Role of Integrated Knowledge Translation in Intervention Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wathen, C Nadine; MacMillan, Harriet L

2018-04-01

There is widespread recognition across the full range of applied research disciplines, including health and social services, about the challenges of integrating scientifically derived research evidence into policy and/or practice decisions. These "disconnects" or "knowledge-practice gaps" between research production and use have spawned a new research field, most commonly known as either "implementation science" or "knowledge translation." The present paper will review key concepts in this area, with a particular focus on "integrated knowledge translation" (IKT)-which focuses on researcher-knowledge user partnership-in the area of mental health and prevention of violence against women and children using case examples from completed and ongoing work. A key distinction is made between the practice of KT (disseminating, communicating, etc.), and the science of KT, i.e., research regarding effective KT approaches. We conclude with a discussion of the relevance of IKT for mental health intervention research with children and adolescents.

Local Community's Knowledge on Onion Production, Pests and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

vegetables listed by FAO shows that onion ranks second after ... who sell their produce in local, regional and international markets. ..... Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute. (TOSCI), a seed .... through integrated and organic horticulture.

Understanding indigenous knowledge: Bridging the knowledge gap through a knowledge creation model for agricultural development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edda T. Lwoga

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the management of agricultural indigenous knowledge (IK in developing countries, with a specific focus on Tanzania. It provides background details on IK and its importance for agricultural development. It introduces various knowledge management (KM concepts and discusses their application in managing IK in the developing world by placing Nonaka’s knowledge creation theory (Nonaka 1991; Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995; Nonaka, Toyama & Konno 2000 in the context of the local communities. Data from focus groups were used to triangulate with data from interviews in order to validate, confirm and corroborate quantitative results with qualitative findings. The study findings showed that knowledge creation theory can be used to manage IK in the local communities, however, adequate and appropriate resources need to be allocated for capturing and preserving IK before it disappears altogether. For sustainable agricultural development, the communities have to be placed within a knowledge-creating setting that continuously creates, distributes and shares knowledge within and beyond the communities’ boundaries and integrates it with new agricultural technologies, innovations and knowledge.

Knowledge and information management for integrated water resource management

Science.gov (United States)

Watershed information systems that integrate data and analytical tools are critical enabling technologies to support Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) by converting data into information, and information into knowledge. Many factors bring people to the table to participate in an IWRM fra...

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of local inhabitants about ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of local residents about insecticide treated nets (ITNs) for malaria control in an endemic area of Ethiopia Methods: A descriptive cross-survey was conducted from July 2008 to September 2008. A structured questionnaire collecting ...

The KNOMAD Methodology for Integration of Multi-Disciplinary Engineering Knowledge within Aerospace Production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Curran, R.; Verhagen, W.J.C.; Van Tooren, M.J.L.

2010-01-01

The paper is associated with the integration of multi-disciplinary knowledge within a Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE)-enabled design framework. To support this integration effort, the KNOMAD methodology has been devised. KNOMAD stands for Knowledge Optimized Manufacture And Design and is a

Intelligent Assistants for Distributed Knowledge Acquisition, Integration, Validation, and Maintenance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tecuci, Gheorghe; Boicu, Mihai

2008-01-01

This research has developed an integrated set of tools, called Disciple 2008 learning agent shell, for continuous acquisition of knowledge directly from subject matter experts, and for the integration...

The Knowledge of Local Communities and School Knowledge: In Search of a Didactic Transposition in Natural Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Capece, Jó António

2018-01-01

This article is the result of an ongoing research under the project entitled "The local curriculum in Mozambican schools: epistemological and didactic-methodological strategies for its implementation". Based on ethnographic research, the collection is being made. Systematization of knowledge and cultural experiences of local communities…

Use of a knowledge synthesis by decision makers and planners to facilitate system level integration in a large Canadian provincial health authority

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Suter

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The study is an examination of how a knowledge synthesis, conducted to fill an information gap identified by decision makers and planners responsible for integrating health systems in a western Canadian health authority, is being used within that organisation. Methods: Purposive sampling and snowball technique were used to identify 13 participants who were interviewed about how they are using the knowledge synthesis for health services planning and decision-making. Results: The knowledge synthesis is used by those involved in the strategic direction of the provincial healthcare organisation and those tasked with the operationalization of integration at the provincial or local level. Both groups most frequently use the ten key principles for integration, followed by the sections on integration processes, strategies and models. The key principles facilitate discussion on priority areas to be considered and provide a reference point for a desired future state. Perceived information gaps relate to a lack of detail on "how to" strategies, tools and processes that would lead to successful integration. Discussion and conclusion: The current project demonstrates that decision makers and planners will effectively use a knowledge synthesis if it is timely, relevant and accessible. The information can be applied at strategic and operations levels. Attention needs to be paid to include more information on implementation strategies and processes. Including knowledge users in identifying research questions will increase information uptake.

Use of a knowledge synthesis by decision makers and planners to facilitate system level integration in a large Canadian provincial health authority

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Suter

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The study is an examination of how a knowledge synthesis, conducted to fill an information gap identified by decision makers and planners responsible for integrating health systems in a western Canadian health authority, is being used within that organisation.Methods: Purposive sampling and snowball technique were used to identify 13 participants who were interviewed about how they are using the knowledge synthesis for health services planning and decision-making.Results: The knowledge synthesis is used by those involved in the strategic direction of the provincial healthcare organisation and those tasked with the operationalization of integration at the provincial or local level. Both groups most frequently use the ten key principles for integration, followed by the sections on integration processes, strategies and models. The key principles facilitate discussion on priority areas to be considered and provide a reference point for a desired future state. Perceived information gaps relate to a lack of detail on "how to" strategies, tools and processes that would lead to successful integration.Discussion and conclusion: The current project demonstrates that decision makers and planners will effectively use a knowledge synthesis if it is timely, relevant and accessible. The information can be applied at strategic and operations levels. Attention needs to be paid to include more information on implementation strategies and processes. Including knowledge users in identifying research questions will increase information uptake.

Integrating ICT in Agriculture for Knowledge-Based Economy

African Journals Online (AJOL)

agriculture –based livelihoods, demands the integration of ICT knowledge with agriculture. .... (CGIAR) shows the vital role of Agricultural development in Rwanda's ... Network, Rwanda National Backbone Project, Regional Communication.

Indicators and measurement tools for health system integration: a knowledge synthesis protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Oelke, Nelly D; Suter, Esther; da Silva Lima, Maria Alice Dias; Van Vliet-Brown, Cheryl

2015-07-29

Health system integration is a key component of health system reform with the goal of improving outcomes for patients, providers, and the health system. Although health systems continue to strive for better integration, current delivery of health services continues to be fragmented. A key gap in the literature is the lack of information on what successful integration looks like and how to measure achievement towards an integrated system. This multi-site study protocol builds on a prior knowledge synthesis completed by two of the primary investigators which identified 10 key principles that collectively support health system integration. The aim is to answer two research questions: What are appropriate indicators for each of the 10 key integration principles developed in our previous knowledge synthesis and what measurement tools are used to measure these indicators? To enhance generalizability of the findings, a partnership between Canada and Brazil was created as health system integration is a priority in both countries and they share similar contexts. This knowledge synthesis will follow an iterative scoping review process with emerging information from knowledge-user engagement leading to the refinement of research questions and study selection. This paper describes the methods for each phase of the study. Research questions were developed with stakeholder input. Indicator identification and prioritization will utilize a modified Delphi method and patient/user focus groups. Based on priority indicators, a search of the literature will be completed and studies screened for inclusion. Quality appraisal of relevant studies will be completed prior to data extraction. Results will be used to develop recommendations and key messages to be presented through integrated and end-of-grant knowledge translation strategies with researchers and knowledge-users from the three jurisdictions. This project will directly benefit policy and decision-makers by providing an easy

From Knowledge Theory to Management Practice: Towards an Integrated Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Minsoo; Holden, Tony; Schmidt, Ruth A.

2001-01-01

Critically contrasts the three main schools of thought on knowledge and assesses the resulting implications for knowledge management. Presents a conceptual model to integrate theoretical and practical themes to serve as a framework for developing a future research agenda for the development of knowledge management business tools and applications.…

Knowledge Production, Urban Locations and the Importance of Local Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytt-Larsen, Christine Benna; Winther, Lars

2015-01-01

This paper analyses the relationship between knowledge production and urban locations in industrial design, a knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS). KIBS concentrate in urban locations. This is often explained by the co-location of client firms and market access in large cities. Recent...... research on knowledge production, however, reveals that knowledge productive networks are significant for both the competitiveness and location of KIBS. Thus, to understand the urban location of industrial design, it is important to analyse how knowledge production is organized within the industry....... Industrial design is concentrated in urban locations, but most of its clients are located elsewhere. Hence, it seems that industrial design firms concentrate in urban locations mainly because their knowledge networks include specific types of formal and informal local social networks....

Schooling, Local Knowledge and Working Memory: A Study among Three Contemporary Hunter-Gatherer Societies.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-García, Victoria; Pyhälä, Aili; Díaz-Reviriego, Isabel; Duda, Romain; Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro; Gallois, Sandrine; Guèze, Maximilien; Napitupulu, Lucentezza

2016-01-01

Researchers have analysed whether school and local knowledge complement or substitute each other, but have paid less attention to whether those two learning models use different cognitive strategies. In this study, we use data collected among three contemporary hunter-gatherer societies with relatively low levels of exposure to schooling yet with high levels of local ecological knowledge to test the association between i) schooling and ii) local ecological knowledge and verbal working memory. Participants include 94 people (24 Baka, 25 Punan, and 45 Tsimane') from whom we collected information on 1) schooling and school related skills (i.e., literacy and numeracy), 2) local knowledge and skills related to hunting and medicinal plants, and 3) working memory. To assess working memory, we applied a multi-trial free recall using words relevant to each cultural setting. People with and without schooling have similar levels of accurate and inaccurate recall, although they differ in their strategies to organize recall: people with schooling have higher results for serial clustering, suggesting better learning with repetition, whereas people without schooling have higher results for semantic clustering, suggesting they organize recall around semantically meaningful categories. Individual levels of local ecological knowledge are not related to accurate recall or organization recall, arguably due to overall high levels of local ecological knowledge. While schooling seems to favour some organization strategies this might come at the expense of some other organization strategies.

Schooling, Local Knowledge and Working Memory: A Study among Three Contemporary Hunter-Gatherer Societies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria Reyes-García

Full Text Available Researchers have analysed whether school and local knowledge complement or substitute each other, but have paid less attention to whether those two learning models use different cognitive strategies. In this study, we use data collected among three contemporary hunter-gatherer societies with relatively low levels of exposure to schooling yet with high levels of local ecological knowledge to test the association between i schooling and ii local ecological knowledge and verbal working memory. Participants include 94 people (24 Baka, 25 Punan, and 45 Tsimane' from whom we collected information on 1 schooling and school related skills (i.e., literacy and numeracy, 2 local knowledge and skills related to hunting and medicinal plants, and 3 working memory. To assess working memory, we applied a multi-trial free recall using words relevant to each cultural setting. People with and without schooling have similar levels of accurate and inaccurate recall, although they differ in their strategies to organize recall: people with schooling have higher results for serial clustering, suggesting better learning with repetition, whereas people without schooling have higher results for semantic clustering, suggesting they organize recall around semantically meaningful categories. Individual levels of local ecological knowledge are not related to accurate recall or organization recall, arguably due to overall high levels of local ecological knowledge. While schooling seems to favour some organization strategies this might come at the expense of some other organization strategies.

Integrating data to acquire new knowledge: Three modes of integration in plant science.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonelli, Sabina

2013-12-01

This paper discusses what it means and what it takes to integrate data in order to acquire new knowledge about biological entities and processes. Maureen O'Malley and Orkun Soyer have pointed to the scientific work involved in data integration as important and distinct from the work required by other forms of integration, such as methodological and explanatory integration, which have been more successful in captivating the attention of philosophers of science. Here I explore what data integration involves in more detail and with a focus on the role of data-sharing tools, like online databases, in facilitating this process; and I point to the philosophical implications of focusing on data as a unit of analysis. I then analyse three cases of data integration in the field of plant science, each of which highlights a different mode of integration: (1) inter-level integration, which involves data documenting different features of the same species, aims to acquire an interdisciplinary understanding of organisms as complex wholes and is exemplified by research on Arabidopsis thaliana; (2) cross-species integration, which involves data acquired on different species, aims to understand plant biology in all its different manifestations and is exemplified by research on Miscanthus giganteus; and (3) translational integration, which involves data acquired from sources within as well as outside academia, aims at the provision of interventions to improve human health (e.g. by sustaining the environment in which humans thrive) and is exemplified by research on Phytophtora ramorum. Recognising the differences between these efforts sheds light on the dynamics and diverse outcomes of data dissemination and integrative research; and the relations between the social and institutional roles of science, the development of data-sharing infrastructures and the production of scientific knowledge. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving Remote Sensing Scene Classification by Integrating Global-Context and Local-Object Features

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Zeng

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, many researchers have been dedicated to using convolutional neural networks (CNNs to extract global-context features (GCFs for remote-sensing scene classification. Commonly, accurate classification of scenes requires knowledge about both the global context and local objects. However, unlike the natural images in which the objects cover most of the image, objects in remote-sensing images are generally small and decentralized. Thus, it is hard for vanilla CNNs to focus on both global context and small local objects. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel end-to-end CNN by integrating the GCFs and local-object-level features (LOFs. The proposed network includes two branches, the local object branch (LOB and global semantic branch (GSB, which are used to generate the LOFs and GCFs, respectively. Then, the concatenation of features extracted from the two branches allows our method to be more discriminative in scene classification. Three challenging benchmark remote-sensing datasets were extensively experimented on; the proposed approach outperformed the existing scene classification methods and achieved state-of-the-art results for all three datasets.

AN APROACH OF LOCAL FINANCIAL AUTONOMY AND IMPLICATION OVER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

OpenAIRE

Elena CIGU

2014-01-01

Local governments play an important role in sustainable development processes based on their administrative and financial autonomy. Policies and programs undertaken to assure sustainable development by local governments produce benefits for persistence of the knowledge society. This paper will try to highlight the implication of local financial autonomy over sustainable development of local communities in a knowledge society, based especially on local financial autonomy theory approach.

Presentation planning using an integrated knowledge base

Science.gov (United States)

Arens, Yigal; Miller, Lawrence; Sondheimer, Norman

1988-01-01

A description is given of user interface research aimed at bringing together multiple input and output modes in a way that handles mixed mode input (commands, menus, forms, natural language), interacts with a diverse collection of underlying software utilities in a uniform way, and presents the results through a combination of output modes including natural language text, maps, charts and graphs. The system, Integrated Interfaces, derives much of its ability to interact uniformly with the user and the underlying services and to build its presentations, from the information present in a central knowledge base. This knowledge base integrates models of the application domain (Navy ships in the Pacific region, in the current demonstration version); the structure of visual displays and their graphical features; the underlying services (data bases and expert systems); and interface functions. The emphasis is on a presentation planner that uses the knowledge base to produce multi-modal output. There has been a flurry of recent work in user interface management systems. (Several recent examples are listed in the references). Existing work is characterized by an attempt to relieve the software designer of the burden of handcrafting an interface for each application. The work has generally focused on intelligently handling input. This paper deals with the other end of the pipeline - presentations.

Knowledge-Based Topic Model for Unsupervised Object Discovery and Localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Zhenxing; Hua, Gang; Wang, Le; Gao, Xinbo

Unsupervised object discovery and localization is to discover some dominant object classes and localize all of object instances from a given image collection without any supervision. Previous work has attempted to tackle this problem with vanilla topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA). However, in those methods no prior knowledge for the given image collection is exploited to facilitate object discovery. On the other hand, the topic models used in those methods suffer from the topic coherence issue-some inferred topics do not have clear meaning, which limits the final performance of object discovery. In this paper, prior knowledge in terms of the so-called must-links are exploited from Web images on the Internet. Furthermore, a novel knowledge-based topic model, called LDA with mixture of Dirichlet trees, is proposed to incorporate the must-links into topic modeling for object discovery. In particular, to better deal with the polysemy phenomenon of visual words, the must-link is re-defined as that one must-link only constrains one or some topic(s) instead of all topics, which leads to significantly improved topic coherence. Moreover, the must-links are built and grouped with respect to specific object classes, thus the must-links in our approach are semantic-specific , which allows to more efficiently exploit discriminative prior knowledge from Web images. Extensive experiments validated the efficiency of our proposed approach on several data sets. It is shown that our method significantly improves topic coherence and outperforms the unsupervised methods for object discovery and localization. In addition, compared with discriminative methods, the naturally existing object classes in the given image collection can be subtly discovered, which makes our approach well suited for realistic applications of unsupervised object discovery.Unsupervised object discovery and localization is to discover some dominant object classes and localize all of object

AN APROACH OF LOCAL FINANCIAL AUTONOMY AND IMPLICATION OVER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena CIGU

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Local governments play an important role in sustainable development processes based on their administrative and financial autonomy. Policies and programs undertaken to assure sustainable development by local governments produce benefits for persistence of the knowledge society. This paper will try to highlight the implication of local financial autonomy over sustainable development of local communities in a knowledge society, based especially on local financial autonomy theory approach.

Many-body-localization: strong disorder perturbative approach for the local integrals of motion

Science.gov (United States)

Monthus, Cécile

2018-05-01

For random quantum spin models, the strong disorder perturbative expansion of the local integrals of motion around the real-spin operators is revisited. The emphasis is on the links with other properties of the many-body-localized phase, in particular the memory in the dynamics of the local magnetizations and the statistics of matrix elements of local operators in the eigenstate basis. Finally, this approach is applied to analyze the many-body-localization transition in a toy model studied previously from the point of view of the entanglement entropy.

Evaluation of the reliability of local farmer knowledge in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract:Local farmer knowledge of species distribution patterns and plant palatibality in Namaqualand, South Africa, was assessed using Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques. These findings were compared with the results obtained using phytosociological techniques (species distribution), and with palatability indices ...

Cluster-based global firms' use of local capabilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Poul Houman; Bøllingtoft, Anne

2011-01-01

Purpose – Despite growing interest in clusters role for the global competitiveness of firms, there has been little research into how globalization affects cluster-based firms’ (CBFs) use of local knowledge resources and the combination of local and global knowledge used. Using the cluster......’s knowledge base as a mediating variable, the purpose of this paper is to examine how globalization affected the studied firms’ use of local cluster-based knowledge, integration of local and global knowledge, and networking capabilities. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative case studies of nine firms...... in three clusters strongly affected by increasing global division of labour. Findings – The paper suggests that globalization has affected how firms use local resources and combine local and global knowledge. Unexpectedly, clustered firms with explicit procedures and established global fora for exchanging...

Specific and Complete Local Integration of Patterns in Bayesian Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Biehl

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We present a first formal analysis of specific and complete local integration. Complete local integration was previously proposed as a criterion for detecting entities or wholes in distributed dynamical systems. Such entities in turn were conceived to form the basis of a theory of emergence of agents within dynamical systems. Here, we give a more thorough account of the underlying formal measures. The main contribution is the disintegration theorem which reveals a special role of completely locally integrated patterns (what we call ι-entities within the trajectories they occur in. Apart from proving this theorem we introduce the disintegration hierarchy and its refinement-free version as a way to structure the patterns in a trajectory. Furthermore, we construct the least upper bound and provide a candidate for the greatest lower bound of specific local integration. Finally, we calculate the ι -entities in small example systems as a first sanity check and find that ι -entities largely fulfil simple expectations.

Integrating indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in improving rural accessibility and mobility (in support of the comprehensive rural development programme in South Africa)

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Nhemachena, C

2011-07-01

Full Text Available INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS (IKS) IN IMPROVING RURAL ACCESSIBILITY AND MOBILITY (IN SUPPORT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN SOUTH AFRICA) CHARLES NHEMACHENA1, JAMES CHAKWIZIRA2, SIPHO DUBE1, GOODHOPE MAPONYA1, REMINA RASHOPOLA3... of Environmental Sciences, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950 3 Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, PO Box X833, Pretoria 0001 ABSTRACT This study discusses opportunities and challenges for integrating local knowledge in improving...

Vertical Integration: Teachers' Knowledge and Teachers' Voice.

Science.gov (United States)

Corrie, L.

1995-01-01

Traces the theoretical basis for vertical integration in early school years. Contrasts transmission-based pedagogy with a higher level of teacher control, and acquirer-based pedagogy with a higher level of student control. Suggests that early childhood pedagogy will be maintained when teachers are able to articulate their pedagogical knowledge and…

Vertical and horizontal integration of knowledge and skills - a working model.

Science.gov (United States)

Snyman, W D; Kroon, J

2005-02-01

The new integrated outcomes-based curriculum for dentistry was introduced at the University of Pretoria in 1997. The first participants graduated at the end of 2001. Educational principles that underpin the new innovative dental curriculum include vertical and horizontal integration, problem-oriented learning, student-centred learning, a holistic attitude to patient care and the promotion of oral health. The aim of this research project was to develop and assay a model to facilitate vertical integration of knowledge and skills thereby justifying the above mentioned action. The learning methodology proposed for the specific outcome of the Odontology module, namely the diagnosis of dental caries and the design of a primary preventive programme, included problem-solving as the driving force for the facilitation of vertical and horizontal integration, and an instructional design for the integration of the basic knowledge and clinical skills into a single learning programme. The paper describes the methodology of problem-oriented learning as applied in this study together with the detail of the programme. The consensus of those teachers who represent the basic and clinical sciences and who participate in this learning programme is that this model is practical and can assist vertical as well as horizontal integration of knowledge.

Integration of asynchronous knowledge sources in a novel speech recognition framework

OpenAIRE

Van hamme, Hugo

2008-01-01

Van hamme H., ''Integration of asynchronous knowledge sources in a novel speech recognition framework'', Proceedings ITRW on speech analysis and processing for knowledge discovery, 4 pp., June 2008, Aalborg, Denmark.

Integrating knowledge based functionality in commercial hospital information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, M L; Ganslandt, T; Eich, H P; Lang, K; Ohmann, C; Prokosch, H U

2000-01-01

Successful integration of knowledge-based functions in the electronic patient record depends on direct and context-sensitive accessibility and availability to clinicians and must suit their workflow. In this paper we describe an exemplary integration of an existing standalone scoring system for acute abdominal pain into two different commercial hospital information systems using Java/Corba technolgy.

Locally Integrated Energy Sectors supported by renewable network management within municipalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostevšek, Anja; Petek, Janez; Čuček, Lidija; Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír; Varbanov, Petar Sabev

2015-01-01

The decarbonisation of energy systems is one of the important issues of the present energy policies. One of the ways of achieving this is to focus on local energy systems, thus ensuring as much as possible their heat and power self-sufficiency by applying local renewable resource integration and transformation of the renewable energy. Increasing the share of renewables within the local energy balance could be accomplished by using a variety of approaches. One possibility is combining the Locally Integrated Energy Sectors' concept with the novel management and organisation of a renewables-based network. As a first priority, the proposed comprehensive approach focuses on increasing the energy efficiency of municipal heat and power systems using the Locally Integrated Energy Sectors' concept, which is followed by the integration of renewable energy sources with the establishment of a renewable-based network. The proposed approach is illustrated by a case study of district heating based on wood biomass for the municipality Ormož, Slovenia by integrating various end-users from different sectors. - Highlights: • The paper presents a new approach for accelerated inception of RES in municipalities. • LIES with RES network increases energy efficiency and accelerates RES integration. • A demonstration case of district heating on wood biomass within Ormož was performed.

Safety and resiliency in action: Integrating risk management into local development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ebay Jorge S.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the efforts of the local government unit (LGU of San Jose de Buenavista, in the Province of Antique in central Philippines to manage risks associated with multiple hazards to protect the people, their livelihoods and local development gains. More specifically, it analyzes the process of pursuing risk management objectives vis-a-vis national and international disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM norms, without loosing sight of local contextual realities that directly influence people’s vulnerabilities and capacities. Risk management initiatives in the LGU revolve around four key areas namely disaster prevention and mitigation, disaster preparedness, emergency response, and recovery and rehabilitation. Binding these initiatives are actions that integrate governance mechanisms with scientific data and sectoral and community participation to develop a comprehensive plan of action and standard operating procedures that will serve as guideposts in the process of building a safer community. The experience of San Jose de Buenavista also suggests that cost saving strategies an be replicated by communities and organizations that have financial limitations to pursue DRRM objectives. This paper contends that risk management is a fundamental development strategy to pursue local development goals and to sustain efforts to protect development gains in the long run. This can be done using a combination of governance, risk assessment, knowledge management, vulnerability reduction and preparedness strategies. Local leadership, people’s participation, environmental resource management and continuous capability building are key elements of the process. Ultimately, risk management must be mainstreamed into local development to develop community resiliency.

Knowledge Loss: Managing Local Knowledge in Rural Uzbekistan

OpenAIRE

Wall, Caleb; Evers, Hans-Dieter

2006-01-01

Knowledge loss is not a remote phenomenon, unique to one knowledge system. Rather we argue that the loss of knowledge is an issue for other knowledge systems as well. Knowledge loss is certainly a concern for anthropologists working on indigenous knowledge, fearful of ‘losing’ indigenous knowledge entirely as a result of modernisation (cf. Cox, 2000). Equally, staff movements within the corporate world probably lead to a large amount of knowledge displacement, yet staff (and thus knowledge) r...

In Search of Local Knowledge on ICTs in Africa

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Iginio Gagliardone

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article explores whether, and to what extent, local knowledge features in research on the role of ICTs in statebuilding and peacebuilding in Africa, with a particular focus on neighboring Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. We question whether the claims of the transformative power of ICTs are backed by ‘evidence’ and whether local knowledge – e.g., traditional mechanisms for conflict resolution – is taken into consideration by ICT-based development initiatives. To assess this, we systematically reviewed literature in the region, focusing on academic outputs as well as research published by non-governmental and governmental organizations. Several key findings emerged, including: 1 empirical evidence on the successful use of ICTs to promote peacebuilding and statebuilding is thin; 2 few differences exist between scholarship emanating from the Global North and from Africa; and 3 overall, the literature exhibits a simplistic assumption that ICTs will drive democratic development without sufficient consideration of how ICTs are actually used by the public.

Local Alternative for Energy Supply : Performance Assessment of Integrated Community Energy Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koirala, B.P.; Chaves Avila, J.P.; Gomez, T.; Hakvoort, R.A.; Herder, P.M.

2016-01-01

Integrated community energy systems (ICESs) are emerging as a modern development to re-organize local energy systems allowing simultaneous integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and engagement of local communities. Although local energy initiatives, such as ICESs are rapidly emerging due

Match & Manage : The use of knowledge matching and project management to integrate knowledge in collaborative inbound open innovation

OpenAIRE

Lakemond, Nicolette; Bengtsson, Lars; Laursen, Keld; Tell, Fredrik

2016-01-01

Despite mounting evidence on the potential benefits of inbound open innovation, little is known about how firms purposefully manage inflows of knowledge. We investigate the use of two knowledge governance procedures—project management and knowledge matching—in collaborative inbound open innovation. Our findings suggest that, in addition to “knowledge-precursors,” which the literature on open innovation and absorptive capacity has shown to be important for the integration of external knowledge...

Local integration: a durable solution for refugees?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Low

2006-05-01

Full Text Available UNHCR supports local integration as one possiblesolution for refugees who cannot return home. Experiencein Mexico, Uganda and Zambia indicates that integrationcan benefi t refugee-hosting communities as well asrefugees.

"Exploring knowledge-user experiences in integrated knowledge translation: a biomedical investigation of the causes and consequences of food allergy".

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Jenna; Elliott, Susan J; Clarke, Ann E

2016-01-01

Food allergy is a serious public health problem in Canada and other high-income countries, as it is potentially life threatening and severely impacts the quality of life for individuals and their families. Yet, many questions still remain as to its origins and determinants, and the best practices for treatment. Formed to tackle these very questions, the GET-FACTS research study centers on a novel concept in biomedical research: in order to make this science useful, knowledge creation must include meaningful interactions with knowledge-users. With this, knowledge-users are present at every stage of the research and are crucial, central and equal contributors. This study reflects on the early part of that journey from the perspective of the knowledge-users. We conducted interviews with all non-scientist members of the GET-FACTS steering committee, representing Canadian organizations that deal with patient advocacy and policy with regards to food allergy. Steering committee members had a clear sense that scientists and knowledge-users are equally responsible for putting knowledge into action and the importance of consulting and integrating knowledge-users throughout research. They also have high expectations for the GET-FACTS integrated process; that this model of doing science will create better scientists (e.g. improve communication skills) and make the scientific output more useful and relevant. Our work highlights both the unique contributions that knowledge-users can offer to knowledge creation as well as the challenges of trying to unify members from such different communities (policy/advocacy and biomedical science). There remains a real need to develop more touch points and opportunities for collaboration if true integration is to be achieved. Despite the obstacles, this model can help change the way knowledge is created in the biomedical world. ᅟ. Despite the burden of food allergic disease many questions remain as to its origins, determinants and best

Local health practices and the knowledge of medicinal plants in a Brazilian semi-arid region: environmental benefits to human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Zank, Sofia; Peroni, Nivaldo; de Araújo, Elcida Lima; Hanazaki, Natalia

2015-02-23

The concept of eco-cultural health considers the dynamic interaction between humans and ecosystems, emphasizing the implications of the health of the ecosystem for the health and well-being of human populations. Ethnobotanical studies focusing on folk medicine and medicinal plants can contribute to the field of eco-cultural health if they incorporate the perspective and local knowledge of communities. We investigated the local health practices in three rural communities living within the vicinity of a protected area of sustainable use in a semi-arid region of Brazil. We analyzed the opinions of local health experts on the elements that influence human health and on how the environment contributes to this influence. We also analyzed and compared the local knowledge of medicinal plants, as knowledge of this type is an important factor when considering the interaction between environmental and human health. We performed structured interviews and free-listings with 66 local health experts. We used content analysis to systematize the elements of the influences on human health. We compared the richness of the plants cited among communities and analyzed the differences among the three communities regarding the ways in which the plants were obtained and the environments in which plants were collected. The local experts identified several influences of the environment on human health. These influences can be associated with ecosystem services, such as climatic conditions, water and air quality, recreation and medicinal and food resources. We identified 192 medicinal plant species, most of which were gathered from wild ecosystems. The most important environments for the three communities were the plateau mountain and backyards. The informants had a broad and integrated view of health, perceiving the importance of conserving the environment within the National Forest of Araripe for the health and well-being of the local populations.

Integrals of motion in the many-body localized phase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Ros

2015-02-01

Full Text Available We construct a complete set of quasi-local integrals of motion for the many-body localized phase of interacting fermions in a disordered potential. The integrals of motion can be chosen to have binary spectrum {0,1}, thus constituting exact quasiparticle occupation number operators for the Fermi insulator. We map the problem onto a non-Hermitian hopping problem on a lattice in operator space. We show how the integrals of motion can be built, under certain approximations, as a convergent series in the interaction strength. An estimate of its radius of convergence is given, which also provides an estimate for the many-body localization–delocalization transition. Finally, we discuss how the properties of the operator expansion for the integrals of motion imply the presence or absence of a finite temperature transition.

Innovation and Integrity in Intervention Research: Conceptual Issues, Methodology, and Knowledge Translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Malti, Tina; Beelmann, Andreas; Noam, Gil G; Sommer, Simon

2018-04-01

In this article, we introduce the special issue entitled Innovation and Integrity in Intervention Science. Its focus is on essential problems and prospects for intervention research examining two related topics, i.e., methodological issues and research integrity, and challenges in the transfer of research knowledge into practice and policy. The main aims are to identify how to advance methodology in order to improve research quality, examine scientific integrity in the field of intervention science, and discuss future steps to enhance the transfer of knowledge about evidence-based intervention principles into sustained practice, routine activities, and policy decisions. Themes of the special issue are twofold. The first includes questions about research methodology in intervention science, both in terms of research design and methods, as well as data analyses and the reporting of findings. Second, the issue tackles questions surrounding the types of knowledge translation frameworks that might be beneficial to mobilize the transfer of research-based knowledge into practice and public policies. The issue argues that innovations in methodology and thoughtful approaches to knowledge translation can enable transparency, quality, and sustainability of intervention research.

Towards transdisciplinarity in Arctic sustainability knowledge co-production: Socially-Oriented Observations as a participatory integrated activity

Science.gov (United States)

Vlasova, Tatiana; Volkov, Sergey

2016-09-01

The paper is an attempt to tie together main biogeophysical and social science projects under the auspice of interdisciplinary sustainability science development. Special attention is put to the necessity of the transdisciplinary knowledge co-production based on activities and problem-solutions approaches. It puts attention to the role of monitoring activities in sustainability interdisciplinary science and transdisciplinary knowledge evolution in the Arctic. Socially focused monitoring named Socially-Oriented Observations creating a transdisciplinary space is viewed as one of sources of learning and transformations towards sustainability making possible to shape rapid changes happening in the Arctic based on sustainability knowledge co-production. Continuous Socially-Oriented Observations integrating scientific, education and monitoring methods enables to define adaptation and transformation pathways in the Arctic - the most rapidly changing region of our planet. Socially-Oriented Observations are based on the existing and developing interdisciplinary scientific approaches emerged within natural science and social science projects, sustainable development and resilience concepts putting principle attention to building sustainable and resilient socio-ecological systems. It is argued that the Arctic sustainability science is a valuable component of the whole and broader system of the Arctic Sustainability knowledge co-produced with the help of transdisciplinary approaches integrating science, local/traditional knowledge, entrepreneurship, education, decision-making. Socially-Oriented Observations are designed to be a transdisciplinary interactive continuous participatory process empowering deliberate choices of people that can shape the changes and enable transformation towards sustainability. Approaches of Socially-Oriented Observations and methods of implementation that have been developed since the IPY 2007/2008 and being practiced in different regions of the

Introducing Knowledge Management into the Integrated Management System of Nuclear Organizations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanev, Y.; Brandner, A.; Kosilov, A.

2016-01-01

Full text: The analysis for introducing knowledge management into an integrated management system in nuclear organizations, conducted by NKMI, and discussed in a number of meetings in IAEA and other organizations has shown that currently there is no full and comprehensive implementation of KM in IMS. NKMI has suggested and developed a common, systematic approach for introducing Knowledge Management in the IMS of a nuclear regulatory organization, based on the concept of competence, graded approach and continuous improvement. The approach is based on the concept of integrating an initial review of all knowledge and competence needed for effective and efficient process implementation including a gap analysis and provision of compensatory measures. Knowledge resources are represented as a knowledge resource matrix, which are necessary to complete a given process successfully. The “performance” of the available knowledge resources contribute to an efficient regulatory process is also reviewed at the end of process implementation where relevant decision for enhancement of knowledge and competence are taken, including capturing, preserving, sharing and reuse of new knowledge, gained through the process implementation. The “knowledge resource matrix” approach is fully based on IAEA recommendation and has already been applied in a number of regulatory processes. (author

Local-global knowledge sourcing in the context of an open innovation knowledge platform : the case of Amsterdam Denim City

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DiVito, Lori; Ingen-Housz, Zita

2016-01-01

Our paper investigates the inherent tensions between the local embeddedness of highly tacit knowledge and the global sourcing of ‘open’ knowledge or innovation. A single case study design enabled us to perform a thorough and detailed analysis of inter-firm collaboration and open innovation within

Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Integrated Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Adi Putra, M. J.; Widodo, A.; Sopandi, W.

2017-09-01

The integrated approach refers to the stages of pupils’ psychological development. Unfortunately, the competences which are designed into the curriculum is not appropriate with the child development. This Manuscript presents PCK (pedagogical content knowledge) of teachers who teach science content utilizing an integrated approach. The data has been collected by using CoRe, PaP-eR, and interviews from six elementary teachers who teach science. The paper informs that high and stable teacher PCKs have an impact on how teachers present integrated teaching. Because it is influenced by the selection of important content that must be submitted to the students, the depth of the content, the reasons for choosing the teaching procedures and some other things. So for teachers to be able to integrate teaching, they should have a balanced PCK.

Local people's knowledge with regard to land use activities in southwest Madagascar - Conceptual insights for sustainable land management.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz-Vietta, Nadine V M; Tahirindraza, H Stone; Stoll-Kleemann, Susanne

2017-09-01

Environmental conditions in the Mahafaly Plateau region in southwest Madagascar are harsh, with a long dry season and a short rainy season. The local people's land use capabilities and skills are adapted to these conditions. Nevertheless, they are currently confronted by drastic climatic changes, including longer dry seasons, which have resulted in food and water scarcities. It is therefore essential to ensure sustainable land management in the region. At present, the main land use activities are agriculture, livestock farming, natural resource collection including timber and non-timber forest products, and the practice of local customs. Land use activities have always resulted in land conversion, yet over time this ecological transformation also leads to the accumulation of knowledge. The aim of the present article is therefore twofold. First, it aims to examine local people's knowledge with regard to land use activities and the transmission of this knowledge from one generation to the next; second, it considers the extent to which local people's knowledge may contribute to the development of sustainable land management. Our research is based on more than 80 qualitative interviews with local inhabitants of the Mahafaly Plateau region. Our analysis of local people's knowledge identifies four categories: ecological knowledge, knowledge related to natural resource usage, knowledge of names, and the interconnection between knowledge and belief. Furthermore, these knowledge categories provide conceptual insights for sustainable land management. Along with the long-term persistence of natural resources and their functions and the satisfaction of basic needs through resource usage, both the recognition of mental images as a regulating mechanism and the maintenance of the relation between the natural and the supernatural world have a role to play in sustainable land management in the study area. Local knowledge transmission processes serve to foster ongoing learning and

Stakeholder Attitudes, Knowledge and Engagement in Local Road Systems Planning and Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

Political and policy dynamics associated with local road systems planning, management, and financing merit special attention. This study: 1) analyzes stakeholder attitudes, knowledge, and engagement about financing for local road system management, t...

Enabling Integrated Decision Making for Electronic-Commerce by Modelling an Enterprise's Sharable Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Henry M.

2000-01-01

An enterprise model, a computational model of knowledge about an enterprise, is a useful tool for integrated decision-making by e-commerce suppliers and customers. Sharable knowledge, once represented in an enterprise model, can be integrated by the modeled enterprise's e-commerce partners. Presents background on enterprise modeling, followed by…

An integrative model of knowledge management and team work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan A. Marin-Garcia

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Human Resource Management relevance in Knowledge Management has been studied in academic literature mostly from the point of view of recruitment, selection, wages and salaries and career development processes. We have found few publications that are focused in the behaviour of the group of people who generate, share and transfer that knowledge while working in a team. The aim of this paper is to propose a framework that describes the relation between knowledge management and team work,, integrating Nonaka and Takeuchi, Leonard- Barton and Heisig framework proposals, as well as to outline some reflexions for further researches.

Feminist Knowledge Claims, Local Knowledge, and Gender Divisions of Agricultural Labor: Constructing a Successor Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Shelley; Welsh, Rick

1995-01-01

Issues raised by feminist epistemic critiques of social science are used to examine local (farmer-based) knowledge of agriculture and its contribution to analyses of agricultural sustainability. Focuses on the on-farm gender division of labor as critical in constituting the family farm, and elaborates how different experiences of men and women…

Exploring the Associations Among Nutrition, Science, and Mathematics Knowledge for an Integrative, Food-Based Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Stage, Virginia C; Kolasa, Kathryn M; Díaz, Sebastián R; Duffrin, Melani W

2018-01-01

Explore associations between nutrition, science, and mathematics knowledge to provide evidence that integrating food/nutrition education in the fourth-grade curriculum may support gains in academic knowledge. Secondary analysis of a quasi-experimental study. Sample included 438 students in 34 fourth-grade classrooms across North Carolina and Ohio; mean age 10 years old; gender (I = 53.2% female; C = 51.6% female). Dependent variable = post-test-nutrition knowledge; independent variables = baseline-nutrition knowledge, and post-test science and mathematics knowledge. Analyses included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. The hypothesized model predicted post-nutrition knowledge (F(437) = 149.4, p mathematics knowledge were predictive of nutrition knowledge indicating use of an integrative science and mathematics curriculum to improve academic knowledge may also simultaneously improve nutrition knowledge among fourth-grade students. Teachers can benefit from integration by meeting multiple academic standards, efficiently using limited classroom time, and increasing nutrition education provided in the classroom. © 2018, American School Health Association.

Spatial Organization of Environmental Knowledge: Conservation Conflicts in the Inhabited Forest of Northern Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin Roth

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Managing forests for their satisfactory provision of multiple goods and services to both the global and local commons requires effective cross-scale cooperation between local management institutions and state management institutions. Integrating the distinct sets of knowledge produced and used at the two scales of management has proven very challenging. This paper shows how a better understanding of the spatial expression of knowledge operating at distinct scales can help lead to a more fruitful integration of local knowledge and practice with state knowledge and practice. Using a case study from northern Thailand, this paper examines the links between the production of knowledge and the production of space within resource management institutions. It then identifies moments of convergence, compatibility, and conflict between local and state management institutions to inform more effective cross-scale linkages in environmental management.

Integrating experiences from operations into engineering design: modelling knowledge transfer in the offshore oil industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Souza da Conceição, Carolina; Broberg, Ole; Paravizo, Esdras

2017-01-01

of knowledge registered in the systems without standards to categorise and store this knowledge, to being difficult to access and retrieve the knowledge in the systems. Discussion: Transferring knowledge and experiences from users brings human factors into play and modelling the knowledge transfer process...... and workwise distance between operations and engineering design teams, integrating human factors and transferring knowledge are key aspects when designing for better performance systems. Research Objective: Based on an in-depth empirical investigation in an offshore oil company, this study aims to provide......Summative Statement: Integrating human factors and users’ experiences in design projects is a well-known challenge. This study focus on the specific challenges for transferring these experiences and how using a knowledge transfer model can help this integration on the design of high-risk productive...

Integrating entertainment and scientific rigor to facilitate a co-creation of knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Hezel, Bernd; Broschkowski, Ephraim; Kropp, Jürgen

2013-04-01

The advancing research on the changing climate system and on its impacts has uncovered the magnitude of the expectable societal implications. It therefore created substantial awareness of the problem with stakeholders and the general public. But despite this awareness, unsustainable trends have continued untamed. For a transition towards a sustainable world it is, apparently, not enough to disseminate the "scientific truth" and wait for the people to "understand". In order to remedy this problem it is rather necessary to develop new entertaining formats to communicate the complex topic in an integrated and comprehensive way. Beyond that, it could be helpful to acknowledge that science can only generate part of the knowledge that is necessary for the transformation. The nature of the problem and its deep societal implications call for a co-creation of knowledge by science and society in order to enable change. In this spirit the RAMSES project (Reconciling Adaptation, Mitigation and Sustainable Development for Cities) follows a dialogic communication approach allowing for a co-formulation of research questions by stakeholders. A web-based audio-visual guidance application presents embedded scientific information in an entertaining and intuitive way on the basis of a "complexity on demand" approach. It aims at enabling decision making despite uncertainty and it entails a reframing of the project's research according to applied and local knowledge.

The Utilisation of Facebook for Knowledge Sharing in Selected Local Government Councils in Delta State, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uzoma Heman Ononye

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Aim/Purpose: Facebook has made it possible for organisation to embrace social and network centric knowledge processes by creating opportunities to connect, interact, and collaborate with stakeholders. We have witnessed a significant increase in the popularity and use of this tool in many organisations, especially in the private sector. But the utilisation of Facebook in public organisations is at its infancy, with many also believing that the use of Facebook is not a common practice in many public organisations in Nigeria. In spite of this fact, our discernment on the implications of Facebook usage in public organisations in Nigeria, especially organisations at the local level, seem to be remarkably limited. This paper specifically sought to ascertain if Facebook usage influenced inward and outward knowledge sharing in the selected local government councils in Delta State, Nigeria Methodology: The qualitative method was adopted. The study used interview as the primary means of data gathering. The study purposively sampled thirty-six employees as interviewees, twenty from Oshimili South and sixteen from Oshimili North local government councils respectively. The thematic content analysis method was used to analyse interview transcripts. Contribution: This research made distinct contributions to the available literature in social knowledge management, specifically bringing to the fore the intricacies surrounding the use of Facebook for knowledge sharing purposes in the public sector. Findings: The local government councils were yet to appreciate and utilise the interactive and collaborative nature of Facebook in improving stakeholders’ engagement, feedback, and cooperation. Facebook was used for outward knowledge sharing but not for inward knowledge sharing. Recommendations for Practitioners: Local government councils should encourage interaction via Facebook, show willingness to capture knowledge from identifiable sources, and effectively manage

Advancing nursing practice: redefining the theoretical and practical integration of knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Martin

2011-03-01

The aim of this paper is to offer an alternative knowing-how knowing-that framework of nursing knowledge, which in the past has been accepted as the provenance of advanced practice. The concept of advancing practice is central to the development of nursing practice and has been seen to take on many different forms depending on its use in context. To many it has become synonymous with the work of the advanced or expert practitioner; others have viewed it as a process of continuing professional development and skills acquisition. Moreover, it is becoming closely linked with practice development. However, there is much discussion as to what constitutes the knowledge necessary for advancing and advanced practice, and it has been suggested that theoretical and practical knowledge form the cornerstone of advanced knowledge. The design of this article takes a discursive approach as to the meaning and integration of knowledge within the context of advancing nursing practice. A thematic analysis of the current discourse relating to knowledge integration models in an advancing and advanced practice arena was used to identify concurrent themes relating to the knowing-how knowing-that framework which commonly used to classify the knowledge necessary for advanced nursing practice. There is a dichotomy as to what constitutes knowledge for advanced and advancing practice. Several authors have offered a variety of differing models, yet it is the application and integration of theoretical and practical knowledge that defines and develops the advancement of nursing practice. An alternative framework offered here may allow differences in the way that nursing knowledge important for advancing practice is perceived, developed and coordinated. What has inevitably been neglected is that there are various other variables which when transposed into the existing knowing-how knowing-that framework allows for advanced knowledge to be better defined. One of the more notable variables is

Coastal erosion management in Accra: Combining local knowledge and empirical research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kwasi Appeaning Addo

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Coastal erosion along the Accra coast has become a chronic phenomenon that threatens both life and property. The issue has assumed a centre stage of national debate in recent times because of its impact on the coastal communities. Lack of reliable geospatial data hinders effective scientific investigations into the changing trends in the shoreline position. However, knowledge about coastal erosion, by the local people, and how far the shoreline has migrated inland over time is high in the coastal communities in Accra. This opens a new chapter in coastal erosion research to include local knowledge of the local settlers in developing sustainable coastal management. This article adopted a scientific approach to estimate rate of erosion and tested the results against perceived erosion trend by the local settlers. The study used a 1974 digital topographic map and 1996 aerial photographs. The end point rate statistical method in DSAS was used to compute the rates of change. The short-term rate of change for the 22-year period under study was estimated as -0.91 m/annum ± 0.49 m/annum. It was revealed that about 79% of the shoreline is eroding, while the remaining 21% is either stabilised or accreting. It emerged, from semi-structured interviews with inhabitants in the Accra coastal communities, that an average of about 30 m of coastal lands are perceived to have been lost to erosion for a period of about 20 years. This translates to a historic rate of change of about 1.5 m/year, which corroborates the results of the scientific study. Again this study has established that the local knowledge of the inhabitants, about coastal erosion, can serve as reliable information under scarcity of scientific data for coastal erosion analyses in developing countries.

Models, methods and software for distributed knowledge acquisition for the automated construction of integrated expert systems knowledge bases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dejneko, A.O.

2011-01-01

Based on an analysis of existing models, methods and means of acquiring knowledge, a base method of automated knowledge acquisition has been chosen. On the base of this method, a new approach to integrate information acquired from knowledge sources of different typologies has been proposed, and the concept of a distributed knowledge acquisition with the aim of computerized formation of the most complete and consistent models of problem areas has been introduced. An original algorithm for distributed knowledge acquisition from databases, based on the construction of binary decision trees has been developed [ru

Knowledge-Intensive Gathering and Integration of Statistical Information on European Fisheries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klinkert, M.; Treur, J.; Verwaart, T.; Loganantharaj, R.; Palm, G.; Ali, M.

2000-01-01

Gathering, maintenance, integration and presentation of statistics are major activities of the Dutch Agricultural Economics Research Institute LEI. In this paper we explore how knowledge and agent technology can be exploited to support the information gathering and integration process. In

Schooling and Local Environmental Knowledge: Do They Complement or Substitute Each Other?

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-Garcia, Victoria; Kightley, Eric; Ruiz-Mallen, Isabel; Fuentes-Pelaez, Nuria; Demps, Katie; Huanca, Tomas; Martinez-Rodriguez, Maria Ruth

2010-01-01

Schooling and the knowledge acquired at school have been considered both a cause of loss of indigenous knowledge (because it opens pathways to the non-indigenous world and worldviews) and a potential remedy to its demise (if educational curricula is aligned with indigenous realities by giving instruction in local languages and incorporating local…

Knowledge Assisted Integrated Design of a Component and Its Manufacturing Process

Science.gov (United States)

Gautham, B. P.; Kulkarni, Nagesh; Khan, Danish; Zagade, Pramod; Reddy, Sreedhar; Uppaluri, Rohith

Integrated design of a product and its manufacturing processes would significantly reduce the total cost of the products as well as the cost of its development. However this would only be possible if we have a platform that allows us to link together simulations tools used for product design, performance evaluation and its manufacturing processes in a closed loop. In addition to that having a comprehensive knowledgebase that provides systematic knowledge guided assistance to product or process designers who may not possess in-depth design knowledge or in-depth knowledge of the simulation tools, would significantly speed up the end-to-end design process. In this paper, we propose a process and illustrate a case for achieving an integrated product and manufacturing process design assisted by knowledge support for the user to make decisions at various stages. We take transmission component design as an example. The example illustrates the design of a gear for its geometry, material selection and its manufacturing processes, particularly, carburizing-quenching and tempering, and feeding the material properties predicted during heat treatment into performance estimation in a closed loop. It also identifies and illustrates various decision stages in the integrated life cycle and discusses the use of knowledge engineering tools such as rule-based guidance, to assist the designer make informed decisions. Simulation tools developed on various commercial, open-source platforms as well as in-house tools along with knowledge engineering tools are linked to build a framework with appropriate navigation through user-friendly interfaces. This is illustrated through examples in this paper.

Spatial knowledge dynamics of innovation processes: local and non-local aspects of buzz and collective learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tanner, Anne Nygaard

2014-01-01

learning processes and require face-to-face contact. In sum, the innovation biography method contributes in uncovering innovation processes and how these rely on many different configurations of spatial knowledge dynamics, including buzz, local ties and global pipelines. The findings imply that policy...

Integration of knowledge management system for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iguchi, Yukihiro; Yanagihara, Satoshi

2016-01-01

The decommissioning of a nuclear facility is a long term project, handling information which begins from the design, construction and operation. Moreover, the decommissioning project is likely to be extended because of the lack of the waste disposal site especially in Japan. In this situation, because the transfer of knowledge and education to the next generation is a crucial issue, integration and implementation of a system for knowledge management is necessary in order to solve it. For this purpose, the total system of decommissioning knowledge management system (KMS) is proposed. In this system, we have to arrange, organize and systematize the data and information of the plant design, maintenance history, trouble events, waste management records etc. The collected data, information and records should be organized by computer support system e.g. data base system. It becomes a base of the explicit knowledge. Moreover, measures of extracting tacit knowledge from retiring employees are necessary. The experience of the retirees should be documented as much as possible through effective questionnaire or interview process. The integrated knowledge mentioned above should be used for the planning, implementation of dismantlement or education for the future generation. (author)

Integration of object-oriented knowledge representation with the CLIPS rule based system

Science.gov (United States)

Logie, David S.; Kamil, Hasan

1990-01-01

The paper describes a portion of the work aimed at developing an integrated, knowledge based environment for the development of engineering-oriented applications. An Object Representation Language (ORL) was implemented in C++ which is used to build and modify an object-oriented knowledge base. The ORL was designed in such a way so as to be easily integrated with other representation schemes that could effectively reason with the object base. Specifically, the integration of the ORL with the rule based system C Language Production Systems (CLIPS), developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center, will be discussed. The object-oriented knowledge representation provides a natural means of representing problem data as a collection of related objects. Objects are comprised of descriptive properties and interrelationships. The object-oriented model promotes efficient handling of the problem data by allowing knowledge to be encapsulated in objects. Data is inherited through an object network via the relationship links. Together, the two schemes complement each other in that the object-oriented approach efficiently handles problem data while the rule based knowledge is used to simulate the reasoning process. Alone, the object based knowledge is little more than an object-oriented data storage scheme; however, the CLIPS inference engine adds the mechanism to directly and automatically reason with that knowledge. In this hybrid scheme, the expert system dynamically queries for data and can modify the object base with complete access to all the functionality of the ORL from rules.

Local knowledge of fishermen in weather prediction in Moa and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated local knowledge of fishermen in weather prediction in Moa and Kwale coastal villages, Tanzania. Focus Group Discussions, Seasonal Calendars, Time line analysis, key informant interviews, questionnaire surveys and documentary reviews were used to gather data. The SPSS programme was used ...

Traditional and local ecological knowledge about forest biodiversity in the Pacific Northwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Susan Charnley; A. Paige Fischer; Eric T. Jones

2008-01-01

This paper synthesizes the existing literature about traditional and local ecological knowledge relating to biodiversity in Pacific Northwest forests in order to assess what is needed to apply this knowledge to forest biodiversity conservation efforts. We address four topics: (1) views and values people have relating to biodiversity, (2) the resource use and management...

Stakeholders and public involvement for flood protection: traditional river management organisations for a better consideration of local knowledge?

Science.gov (United States)

Utz, Stephan; Lane, Stuart; Reynard, Emmanuel

2016-04-01

This research explores participatory processes in the domain of river management in Switzerland. The main objective is to understand how traditional, highly participatory, local organisations for flood protection have been institutionalised into current river management policy, and to what extent this has impacted on wider participatory processes of producing knowledge. Traditionally, flood protection strategies have been based upon scientific knowledge but have often ignored the capacities of local actors to contribute to the development of the policy. Thus, there may be a gap between scientists, stakeholders and the public that favours controversies and leads to opposition to flood protection projects. In order to reduce this gap and to increase incorporation of local knowledge, participatory processes are set up. They are considered as allowing the integration of all the actors concerned by flood risks to discuss their positions and to develop alternative solutions. This is a particularly important goal in the Swiss political system where direct democracy (the possibility of calling the decision of any level of government into question through a popular vote) means that a reasonable level of project acceptance is a necessary element of project. In order to support implementation of participatory processes, federal funding includes a special grant to cover the additional costs due to these actions. It is considered that, since its introduction in 2008, this grant certainly furthered participatory processes for flood protection projects and fostered water management policy implementation. However, the implication of stakeholders and public in decision-making processes is much well-established than modern river management often assumes. In some regions, flood protection tasks have been traditionally assumed by local organisations such as dyke corporations (DCs). These comprise land and property owners who are DC members and have to participate in flood protection

Laevo: A Temporal Desktop Interface for Integrated Knowledge Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeuris, Steven; Houben, Steven; Bardram, Jakob

2014-01-01

Prior studies show that knowledge work is characterized by highly interlinked practices, including task, file and window management. However, existing personal information management tools primarily focus on a limited subset of knowledge work, forcing users to perform additional manual...... states and transitions of an activity. The life cycle is used to inform the design of Laevo, a temporal activity-centric desktop interface for personal knowledge work. Laevo allows users to structure work within dedicated workspaces, managed on a timeline. Through a centralized notification system which...... configuration work to integrate the different tools they use. In order to understand tool usage, we review literature on how users' activities are created and evolve over time as part of knowledge worker practices. From this we derive the activity life cycle, a conceptual framework describing the different...

Integrated Automatic Workflow for Phylogenetic Tree Analysis Using Public Access and Local Web Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Damkliang, Kasikrit; Tandayya, Pichaya; Sangket, Unitsa; Pasomsub, Ekawat

2016-11-28

At the present, coding sequence (CDS) has been discovered and larger CDS is being revealed frequently. Approaches and related tools have also been developed and upgraded concurrently, especially for phylogenetic tree analysis. This paper proposes an integrated automatic Taverna workflow for the phylogenetic tree inferring analysis using public access web services at European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), and our own deployed local web services. The workflow input is a set of CDS in the Fasta format. The workflow supports 1,000 to 20,000 numbers in bootstrapping replication. The workflow performs the tree inferring such as Parsimony (PARS), Distance Matrix - Neighbor Joining (DIST-NJ), and Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithms of EMBOSS PHYLIPNEW package based on our proposed Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) similarity score. The local web services are implemented and deployed into two types using the Soaplab2 and Apache Axis2 deployment. There are SOAP and Java Web Service (JWS) providing WSDL endpoints to Taverna Workbench, a workflow manager. The workflow has been validated, the performance has been measured, and its results have been verified. Our workflow's execution time is less than ten minutes for inferring a tree with 10,000 replicates of the bootstrapping numbers. This paper proposes a new integrated automatic workflow which will be beneficial to the bioinformaticians with an intermediate level of knowledge and experiences. All local services have been deployed at our portal http://bioservices.sci.psu.ac.th.

Place Based STEM: Leveraging Local Resources to Engage K-12 Teachers in Teaching Integrated STEM and for Addressing the Local STEM Pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dr. Louis Nadelson; Anne Louise Seifert; Meagan McKinney

2014-06-01

Business, industry, parks, nature settings, government infrastructure, and people, can be invaluable resources for connecting STEM curriculum within context which results in conditions ideal for promoting purposeful learning of authentic STEM content. Thus, community-based STEM resources offer ideal context for teaching STEM content. A benefit of focusing teacher attention on these contextual, content aligned resources is that they are in every community; making place-based STEM education a possibility, regardless of the location of STEM teaching and learning. Further, associating STEM teaching and learning with local resources addresses workforce development and the STEM pipeline by exposing students to STEM careers and applications in their local communities. The desire to align STEM teaching and learning with local STEM related resources guided the design of our week-long integrated STEM K-12 teacher professional development (PD) program, i-STEM. We have completed four years of our i-STEM PD program and have made place-based STEM a major emphasis of our curriculum. This report focuses on the data collected in the fourth year of our program. Our week-long i-STEM PD served over 425 educators last summer (2013), providing them with in depth theme-based integrated STEM short courses which were limited to an average of 15 participants and whole group plenary sessions focused around placed based integrated STEM, inquiry, engineering design, standards and practices of Common Core and 21st Century skills. This state wide PD was distributed in five Idaho community colleges and took place over two weeks. The STEM short courses included topics on engineering for sustainability, using engineering to spark interest in STEM, municipal water systems, health, agriculture, food safety, mining, forestry, energy, and others. Integral to these short courses were field trips designed to connect the K-12 educators to the resources in their local communities that could be leveraged

Using Service-Learning in Urban Areas in Semarang Regency to Address Local Knowledge System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rully Adi Nugroho

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Service-learning has gained substantial recognition as an effective type of pedagogy and has enhanced civic education across the disciplines, however remains a lack of understanding of this type of learning in Indonesia. The goals of the study were (1 to explore the forms of local knowledge systems practiced in Semarang Regency and how they are used in resources conservation using service-learning method, (2 to foster student engagement with the community, and (3 to promote student awareness of community resources that are directly relevant to local knowledge system issues. The success of the service-learning projects in meeting these goals was assessed via qualitative analysis of student reflective papers and classroom presentations. The results indicated there were local knowledges that were still successfully in use, but often only very locally. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the service-learning projects promoted students’ valuable academic skills, including communication, team-building, and critical thinking, built their self-esteem, their awareness of community needs and resources, and demonstrated the relevance of course content to real life.

Tribal Archives, Traditional Knowledge, and Local Contexts: Why the “s” Matters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimberly Christen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this article I examine the landscape of tribal or Indigenous archival management as it relates to digital assets and, more specifically, how these might help us reimagine the intellectual property needs of local, traditional, and indigenous communities, libraries, archives, and museums as they seek to manage, preserve, and reuse their digital cultural heritage. The colonial collecting project was a destructive mechanism by which Native materials were unhinged from their local places and knowledge and at the same time used as markers of Native erasure. As part of a practical solution to contemporary intellectual property dilemmas faced by Indigenous peoples globally due in large part to the residue of the colonial landscape, I will introduce the Local Contexts project and the Traditional Knowledge License and Label platform (www.localcontexts.org as one intervention into the sometimes-confusing arena of Indigenous intellectual property rights and the digital commons.

Knowledge Management tools integration within DLR's concurrent engineering facility

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, R. P.; Soragavi, G.; Deshmukh, M.; Ludtke, D.

The complexity of space endeavors has increased the need for Knowledge Management (KM) tools. The concept of KM involves not only the electronic storage of knowledge, but also the process of making this knowledge available, reusable and traceable. Establishing a KM concept within the Concurrent Engineering Facility (CEF) has been a research topic of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). This paper presents the current KM tools of the CEF: the Software Platform for Organizing and Capturing Knowledge (S.P.O.C.K.), the data model Virtual Satellite (VirSat), and the Simulation Model Library (SimMoLib), and how their usage improved the Concurrent Engineering (CE) process. This paper also exposes the lessons learned from the introduction of KM practices into the CEF and elaborates a roadmap for the further development of KM in CE activities at DLR. The results of the application of the Knowledge Management tools have shown the potential of merging the three software platforms with their functionalities, as the next step towards the fully integration of KM practices into the CE process. VirSat will stay as the main software platform used within a CE study, and S.P.O.C.K. and SimMoLib will be integrated into VirSat. These tools will support the data model as a reference and documentation source, and as an access to simulation and calculation models. The use of KM tools in the CEF aims to become a basic practice during the CE process. The settlement of this practice will result in a much more extended knowledge and experience exchange within the Concurrent Engineering environment and, consequently, the outcome of the studies will comprise higher quality in the design of space systems.

Integrating Neuroscience Knowledge into Social Work Education: A Case-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, Marcia; Neely-Barnes, Susan L.; Combs-Orme, Terri

2011-01-01

New knowledge from the rapidly growing field of neuroscience has important implications for our understanding of human behavior in the social environment, yet little of this knowledge has made its way into social work education. This article presents a model for integrating neuroscience into instruction on human development, the bio psychosocial…

Simplification of integrity constraints for data integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henning; Martinenghi, Davide

2004-01-01

, because either the global database is known to be consistent or suitable actions have been taken to provide consistent views. The present work generalizes simplification techniques for integrity checking in traditional databases to the combined case. Knowledge of local consistency is employed, perhaps...

Integrating ICT in Agriculture for Knowledge-Based Economy | Balraj ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... demands the integration of ICT knowledge with agriculture. Already projects such as Agriculture Management Information System (AMIS), and e-Soko (which means electronic marketing) – which provides farmers with the price decision making tools enlightens the path to socio-economic development through agriculture.

Integrative pathway knowledge bases as a tool for systems molecular medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Mingyu

2007-08-20

There exists a sense of urgency to begin to generate a cohesive assembly of biomedical knowledge as the pace of knowledge accumulation accelerates. The urgency is in part driven by the emergence of systems molecular medicine that emphasizes the combination of systems analysis and molecular dissection in the future of medical practice and research. A potentially powerful approach is to build integrative pathway knowledge bases that link organ systems function with molecules.

Local knowledge: Empirical Fact to Develop Community Based Disaster Risk Management Concept for Community Resilience at Mangkang Kulon Village, Semarang City

Science.gov (United States)

Kapiarsa, A. B.; Sariffuddin, S.

2018-02-01

Local knowledge in disaster management should not be neglected in developing community resilience. The circular relation between humans and their living habitat and community social relation have developed the local knowledge namely specialized knowledge, shared knowledge, and common knowledge. Its correlation with community-based disaster management has become an important discussion specially to answer can local knowledge underlie community-based disaster risk reduction concept development? To answer this question, this research used mix-method. Interview and crosstab method for 73 respondents with 90% trust rate were used to determine the correlation between local knowledge and community characteristics. This research found out that shared knowledge dominated community local knowledge (77%). While common knowledge and specialized knowledge were sequentially 8% and 15%. The high score of shared value (77%) indicated that local knowledge was occurred in household level and not yet indicated in community level. Shared knowledge was found in 3 phases of the resilient community in dealing with disaster, namely mitigation, emergency response, and recovery phase. This research, therefore, has opened a new scientific discussion on the self-help concept in community-help concept in CBDRM concept development in Indonesia.

An integration architecture for knowledge management system and business process management system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jung, J.; Choi, I.; Song, M.S.

2007-01-01

Recently, interests in the notion of process-oriented knowledge management (PKM) from academia and industry have been significantly increased. Comprehensive research and development requirements along with a cogent framework, however, have not been proposed for integrating knowledge management (KM)

Integrating social science knowledge into natural resource management public involvement practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stummann, Cathy Brown

This PhD study explores the long-recognized challenge of integrating social science knowledge into NRM public involvement practice theoretically and empirically. Theoretically, the study draws on research from adult learning, continuing rofessional education and professional knowledge development...... to better understand how social science knowledge can benefit NRM public involvement practice. Empirically, the study explores the potential of NRM continuing professional education as a means for introducing social science knowledge to public NRM professionals. The study finds social science knowledge can...... be of value to NRM public involvement prospectively and retrospectively; and that continuing professional education can be an effective means to introducing social science knowledge to public NRM professionals. In the design of NRM continuing professional education focused on social science knowledge...

Knowledge Representation and Management, It's Time to Integrate!

Science.gov (United States)

Dhombres, F; Charlet, J

2017-08-01

Objectives: To select, present, and summarize the best papers published in 2016 in the field of Knowledge Representation and Management (KRM). Methods: A comprehensive and standardized review of the medical informatics literature was performed based on a PubMed query. Results: Among the 1,421 retrieved papers, the review process resulted in the selection of four best papers focused on the integration of heterogeneous data via the development and the alignment of terminological resources. In the first article, the authors provide a curated and standardized version of the publicly available US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. Such a resource will improve the quality of the underlying data, and enable standardized analyses using common vocabularies. The second article describes a project developed in order to facilitate heterogeneous data integration in the i2b2 framework. The originality is to allow users integrate the data described in different terminologies and to build a new repository, with a unique model able to support the representation of the various data. The third paper is dedicated to model the association between multiple phenotypic traits described within the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) and the corresponding genotype in the specific context of rare diseases (rare variants). Finally, the fourth paper presents solutions to annotation-ontology mapping in genome-scale data. Of particular interest in this work is the Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO) and its generic association model, the Ontology of Biomedical AssociatioN (OBAN). Conclusion: Ontologies have started to show their efficiency to integrate medical data for various tasks in medical informatics: electronic health records data management, clinical research, and knowledge-based systems development. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.

Assessing the integrity of local area network materials accountability systems against insider threats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, E.; Sicherman, A.

1996-07-01

DOE facilities rely increasingly on computerized systems to manage nuclear materials accountability data and to protect against diversion of nuclear materials or other malevolent acts (e.g., hoax due to falsified data) by insider threats. Aspects of modern computerized material accountability (MA) systems including powerful personal computers and applications on networks, mixed security environments, and more users with increased knowledge, skills and abilities help heighten the concern about insider threats to the integrity of the system. In this paper, we describe a methodology for assessing MA applications to help decision makers identify ways of and compare options for preventing or mitigating possible additional risks from the insider threat. We illustrate insights from applying the methodology to local area network materials accountability systems

Integrating movement in academic classrooms: understanding, applying and advancing the knowledge base.

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, C A; Russ, L; Vazou, S; Goh, T L; Erwin, H

2015-08-01

In the context of comprehensive and coordinated approaches to school health, academic classrooms have gained attention as a promising setting for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time among children. The aims of this paper are to review the rationale and knowledge base related to movement integration in academic classrooms, consider the practical applications of current knowledge to interventions and teacher education, and suggest directions for future research. Specifically, this paper (i) situates movement integration amid policy and research related to children's health and the school as a health-promoting environment; (ii) highlights the benefits of movement integration; (iii) summarizes movement integration programs and interventions; (iv) examines factors associated with classroom teachers' movement integration; (v) offers strategies for translating research to practice and (vi) forwards recommendations for future inquiry related to the effectiveness and sustainability of efforts to integrate movement into classroom routines. This paper provides a comprehensive resource for developing state-of-the-art initiatives to maximize children's movement in academic classrooms as a key strategy for important goals in both education and public health. © 2015 World Obesity.

The Integrated Model of Sustainability Perspective in Spermatophyta Learning Based on Local Wisdom

Science.gov (United States)

Hartadiyati, E.; Rizqiyah, K.; Wiyanto; Rusilowati, A.; Prasetia, A. P. B.

2017-09-01

In present condition, culture is diminished, the change of social order toward the generation that has no policy and pro-sustainability; As well as the advancement of science and technology are often treated unwisely so as to excite local wisdom. It is therefore necessary to explore intra-curricular local wisdom in schools. This study aims to produce an integration model of sustainability perspectives based on local wisdom on spermatophyta material that is feasible and effective. This research uses define, design and develop stages to an integration model of sustainability perspectives based on local wisdom on spermatophyta material. The resulting product is an integration model of socio-cultural, economic and environmental sustainability perspective and formulated with preventive, preserve and build action on spermatophyta material consisting of identification and classification, metagenesis and the role of spermatophyta for human life. The integration model of sustainability perspective in learning spermatophyta based on local wisdom is considered proven to be effective in raising sustainability’s awareness of high school students.

Territory and energy: policies, scales and tools for mobilization, knowledge and local action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chanard, Camille

2011-01-01

The thesis is about French local authorities' energy policies, and more particularly about regional policies. In a context of reassessment of fossil fuel-based energy systems, local authorities have a key role to play. Indeed, energy systems are complex and require to act locally, in order to keep fair access for consumers and to adapt supply to needs and uses. In the same way, environmental constraints and sustainable exploitation of local resources involve to have a good knowledge of territory and of local energy potential. But, local authorities do not know much about boundaries and about components of territorial energy systems. The main purpose of the thesis is to determine structure and behaviour of these energy systems in order to identify public policy incentive levers at local scale. The first part of the thesis deals with the links between land uses, actors' behaviours, political choices and energy consumptions. Here, we point out the specific interest of geography and territorial approach to treat energy issue, both for land planning and for actors' mobilization. In the second part, we identify policy instruments which local authorities should dispose and actions they should implement in order to develop energy saving and renewables. Then, the third part is more specific to regional level. The analysis of two French planning instruments (Regional Plans for Climate, Air and Energy and Regional Energy Observatories), shows the interest of this scale which could, with its position between national and local levels, contribute to improve knowledge of territories, to coordinate local actions and to develop energy policies adapted to local specificities [fr

Integrating across Episodes: Investigating the Long-term Accessibility of Self-derived Knowledge in 4-Year-Old Children

Science.gov (United States)

Varga, Nicole L.; Stewart, Rebekah A.; Bauer, Patricia J.

2016-01-01

Semantic memory, defined as our store of knowledge about the world, provides representational support for all of our higher order cognitive functions. As such, it is crucial that the contents of semantic memory remain accessible over time. Although memory for knowledge learned through direct observation has been previously investigated, we know very little about the retention of knowledge derived through integration of information acquired across separate learning episodes. The present research investigated cross-episode integration in 4-year-old children. Participants were presented with novel facts via distinct story episodes and tested for knowledge extension through cross-episode integration, as well as for retention of the information over a 1-week delay. In Experiment 1, children retained the self-derived knowledge over the delay, though performance was primarily evidenced in a forced-choice format. In Experiment 2, we sought to facilitate the accessibility and robustness of self-derived knowledge by providing a verbal reminder after the delay. The accessibility of self-derived knowledge increased, irrespective of whether participants successfully demonstrated knowledge of the integration facts during the first visit. The results suggest knowledge extended through integration remains accessible after delays, even in a population in which this learning process is less robust. The findings also demonstrate the facilitative effect of reminders on the accessibility and further extension of knowledge over extended time periods. PMID:26774259

Knowledge integration in One Health policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hitziger, Martin; Esposito, Roberto; Canali, Massimo; Aragrande, Maurizio; Häsler, Barbara; Rüegg, Simon R

2018-03-01

The One Health concept covers the interrelationship between human, animal and environmental health and requires multistakeholder collaboration across many cultural, disciplinary, institutional and sectoral boundaries. Yet, the implementation of the One Health approach appears hampered by shortcomings in the global framework for health governance. Knowledge integration approaches, at all stages of policy development, could help to address these shortcomings. The identification of key objectives, the resolving of trade-offs and the creation of a common vision and a common direction can be supported by multicriteria analyses. Evidence-based decision-making and transformation of observations into narratives detailing how situations emerge and might unfold in the future can be achieved by systems thinking. Finally, transdisciplinary approaches can be used both to improve the effectiveness of existing systems and to develop novel networks for collective action. To strengthen One Health governance, we propose that knowledge integration becomes a key feature of all stages in the development of related policies. We suggest several ways in which such integration could be promoted.

Exploration and implementation of ontology-based cultural relic knowledge map integration platform

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Weiqiang; Dong, Yiqiang

2018-05-01

To help designers to better carry out creative design and improve the ability of searching traditional cultural relic information, the ontology-based knowledge map construction method was explored and an integrated platform for cultural relic knowledge map was developed. First of all, the construction method of the ontology of cultural relics was put forward, and the construction of the knowledge map of cultural relics was completed based on the constructed cultural relic otology. Then, a personalized semantic retrieval framework for creative design was proposed. Finally, the integrated platform of the knowledge map of cultural relics was designed and realized. The platform was divided into two parts. One was the foreground display system, which was used for designers to search and browse cultural relics. The other was the background management system, which was for cultural experts to manage cultural relics' knowledge. The research results showed that the platform designed could improve the retrieval ability of cultural relic information. To sum up, the platform can provide a good support for the designer's creative design.

A Semiautomated Framework for Integrating Expert Knowledge into Disease Marker Identification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Jing; Webb-Robertson, Bobbie-Jo M.; Matzke, Melissa M.; Varnum, Susan M.; Brown, Joseph N.; Riensche, Roderick M.; Adkins, Joshua N.; Jacobs, Jon M.; Hoidal, John R.; Scholand, Mary Beth; Pounds, Joel G.; Blackburn, Michael R.; Rodland, Karin D.; McDermott, Jason E.

2013-10-01

Background. The availability of large complex data sets generated by high throughput technologies has enabled the recent proliferation of disease biomarker studies. However, a recurring problem in deriving biological information from large data sets is how to best incorporate expert knowledge into the biomarker selection process. Objective. To develop a generalizable framework that can incorporate expert knowledge into data-driven processes in a semiautomated way while providing a metric for optimization in a biomarker selection scheme. Methods. The framework was implemented as a pipeline consisting of five components for the identification of signatures from integrated clustering (ISIC). Expert knowledge was integrated into the biomarker identification process using the combination of two distinct approaches; a distance-based clustering approach and an expert knowledge-driven functional selection. Results. The utility of the developed framework ISIC was demonstrated on proteomics data from a study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Biomarker candidates were identified in a mouse model using ISIC and validated in a study of a human cohort. Conclusions. Expert knowledge can be introduced into a biomarker discovery process in different ways to enhance the robustness of selected marker candidates. Developing strategies for extracting orthogonal and robust features from large data sets increases the chances of success in biomarker identification.

Knowledge management driven leadership, culture and innovation success – an integrative model

OpenAIRE

Zieba, M.; Schivinski, Bruno

2015-01-01

Purpose - This article examines the relation between knowledge management (KM) driven leadership, culture and innovation success of knowledge-intensive small and medium sized companies. By building on the previously reported research on leadership, culture, innovation , and knowledge management, we synergistically integrate d KM-driven leadership and innovation success while exploring the meditational role of culture in that. Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual model comprising three c...

Traditional knowledge for promotion of socioeconomic inclusion of local communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waldemiro Francisco Sorte Junior

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the key role played by public research institutes for promoting socioeconomic inclusion of local communities based on traditional knowledge and traditional medicine. Nongovernmental organizations and cooperatives have had an important role in raising financial resources, being involved with advocacy of local communities and advancing legislation changes. But strict best manufacturing practices regulations imposed by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency on the requirements for approval and commercialization of drugs based on herbal medicine products call for the involvement of strong public research institutes capable of supporting community-based pharmacies. Thus, public research institutes are pivotal as they can conduct scientific research studies to evidence the efficacy of herbal medicine products and help building the capacity of local communities to comply with current regulations.

Integration of an OWL-DL knowledge base with an EHR prototype and providing customized information.

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Xia; Kay, Stephen; Marley, Tom; Hardiker, Nicholas R

2014-09-01

When clinicians use electronic health record (EHR) systems, their ability to obtain general knowledge is often an important contribution to their ability to make more informed decisions. In this paper we describe a method by which an external, formal representation of clinical and molecular genetic knowledge can be integrated into an EHR such that customized knowledge can be delivered to clinicians in a context-appropriate manner.Web Ontology Language-Description Logic (OWL-DL) is a formal knowledge representation language that is widely used for creating, organizing and managing biomedical knowledge through the use of explicit definitions, consistent structure and a computer-processable format, particularly in biomedical fields. In this paper we describe: 1) integration of an OWL-DL knowledge base with a standards-based EHR prototype, 2) presentation of customized information from the knowledge base via the EHR interface, and 3) lessons learned via the process. The integration was achieved through a combination of manual and automatic methods. Our method has advantages for scaling up to and maintaining knowledge bases of any size, with the goal of assisting clinicians and other EHR users in making better informed health care decisions.

A knowledge representation of local pandemic influenza planning models.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Runa; Brandeau, Margaret L; Das, Amar K

2007-10-11

Planning for pandemic flu outbreak at the small-government level can be aided through the use of mathematical policy models. Formulating and analyzing policy models, however, can be a time- and expertise-expensive process. We believe that a knowledge-based system for facilitating the instantiation of locale- and problem-specific policy models can reduce some of these costs. In this work, we present the ontology we have developed for pandemic influenza policy models.

Use of Remote Sensing and Local Knowledge for Geoconservation of Regiao dos Lagos, Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Avelar, S.; Vasconcelos, G.; Mansur, K. L.; Anjos, S. C.

2013-12-01

A series of lagoons can be found along the coastline of Rio de Janeiro, in the so-called Regiao dos Lagos. The lagoons differ in size, physicochemical, sedimentological and biological characteristics. Rare examples of litifying microbialites that produce stromatolites, the oldest fossils on Earth, can be found living in this lagoon system. The occurrence of stromatolites in the region is of great scientific interest because it enables the study of possible analogues of the earliest life on Earth. However, this region has been suffering from intense human activities and degradations. Geoconservation planning requires an assessment of the characteristics of the region and its potential threats. The primary goal of this study is to assess physical environmental changes and anthropogenic impacts over the last four decades in Regiao dos Lagos. Using a broad integrative assessment combining remote sensing, GIS, field studies and local knowledge of communities, land-cover and land-use classes were identified, as well as the main human activities impacting the environment. The seasonal and weekend tourism and urban sprawl in this coastal area of Rio de Janeiro triggers the occupation of new areas and the removal of natural vegetation, especially on lagoon margins. This disorderly occupation by an ever increasing population, with both legal and illegal constructions and the subsequent overload of the local infrastructure, e.g. increase of electrical energy consumption, volume of vehicles, pollution in air, water and soil and problems with water supply and wastewater treatment, are hastening the gradual degradation of the lake ecosystem. The main driving forces to environmental changes over the last four decades in Regiao dos Lagos were the change of dense vegetation, saline and bare soil classes into built-up areas, adding to the poor waste treatment and inadequate sewage disposal. This analysis provides a basis for a better control of anthropogenic impacts and

Social media, FOAMed in medical education and knowledge sharing: Local experiences with international perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arif Alper Cevik

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Social media, through the Internet and other web-based technologies, have become a means of communication and knowledge-sharing. In this article, we provide details about the social media traffic of various scientific activities, the organizations of which we have played an active role in. We also provide information in our native language through our FOAMed website, which has been published for about 30 months, with us acting as editors. We are comparing these local and limited ventures with examples from the world and aim to remind that social media sources play a very important role in sharing knowledge in medical training and encouraging local initiatives, like ours, with limited resources. Keywords: Medical education, Social media, FOAMed, Knowledge sharing

Using Local Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Education in Resource Management of Abalone in Carot, Anda, Pangasinan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel C. Capinpin, Jr.

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The objectives of the present study were to (1 determine the local ecological knowledge (LEK of abalone gatherers through interviews and mentoring, and assess the correspondence between scientific information and LEK, so that areas where local knowledge may be most useful in resource management could be identified, and (2 to empower selected gatherers/farmers with knowledge and technical skills through environmental education to help develop or build their capacity to become sustainable resource managers. The LEK of abalone fishers was determined using three complementary approaches – group interview, individual interview, and mentoring sessions. Local fishers possess a wealth of knowledge about the interactions of species gained through many years of observations, and this knowledge may be useful in guiding biologists in ecological restoration or management regimes. Additionally, the fishers’ LEK, validated by modern scientific ecological findings, could be a source of important and effective ideas in resource management. The knowledge of the abalone gatherers about important abalone fishing grounds should help in pinpointing critical areas that need to be managed. Abalone mariculture in cages should be set up in these areas to routinely create dense breeding populations which can help in enhancing recovery and in providing fishers with a source of additional income. The continued enforcement of marine protected areas and the periodic release or reseeding of abalone in sanctuaries could also be considered viable resource management options. Other recommendations for resource management based on gathered local knowledge and lessons learned from the environmental education (EE seminars are also presented.

Knowledge capabilities for sustainable development in global classrooms - local challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elise Anderberg

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The Young Masters Programme provides young people around the worldwith a net–based global–local learning environment for sustainable development. The present study investigates certain aspects of the implementation of this programme in the secondary schools of a Swedish municipality, in the context of the Lund Calling project. The research focuses on critical abilities to act globally, referred to as “knowledge capabilities”, and how they relate to the implementation process of initiating global learning for sustainabledevelopment (GLSD. A phenomenographic approach and semi–structuredinterviews were used in the investigation of the experiences of secondary school pupils, teachers and headmasters who participated in the project. Participants’ experiences of the changes carried out are described in relation to examples of knowledge capabilities needed for GLSD. Critical knowledge capabilities found to have been developed through the implementation were: to take command, and to collaborate. Critical knowledge capabilities perceived asnecessary, but not developed through the programme were: to be prepared, to act in a transdisciplinary manner, and to lead for a holistic understanding.

Knowledge mobilization in bridging patient-practitioner-researcher boundaries: A systematic integrative review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowdell, Fiona; Booth, Andrew; Appleby, Ben

2017-11-01

To review published literature to identify when and how patients and healthcare practitioners have been involved in knowledge mobilization activity and the impact this may have had on their care. Improving patient outcomes, satisfaction and quality of care is increasingly reliant on shared decision-making between health professionals and patients. Knowledge mobilization, at its simplest: "moving knowledge to where it can be most useful" is a growing field of academic study. To date, it appears that much effort has focused on moving knowledge from researchers to healthcare practitioners. Knowledge mobilization to patients is currently under-researched. Integrative review. Methods of integrative review will be used to address the review problem. PRISMA guidelines were used as a general framework to guide structuring and reporting the review. Elements of method-specific reporting guidelines for specific streams of evidence will be used as required. This review will aim to provide a broad and deep understanding of patient-practitioner-researcher engagement in knowledge mobilization activity. This synthesis of the extant literature should offer insights into the optimum characteristics of methods for bridging patient-practitioner-researcher boundaries in knowledge mobilization action. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Topical Knowledge in L2 Speaking Assessment: Comparing Independent and Integrated Speaking Test Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Heng-Tsung Danny; Hung, Shao-Ting Alan; Plakans, Lia

2018-01-01

Integrated speaking test tasks (integrated tasks) provide reading and/or listening input to serve as the basis for test-takers to formulate their oral responses. This study examined the influence of topical knowledge on integrated speaking test performance and compared independent speaking test performance and integrated speaking test performance…

Integrating Neuroscience Knowledge and Neuropsychiatric Skills Into Psychiatry: The Way Forward.

Science.gov (United States)

Schildkrout, Barbara; Benjamin, Sheldon; Lauterbach, Margo D

2016-05-01

Increasing the integration of neuroscience knowledge and neuropsychiatric skills into general psychiatric practice would facilitate expanded approaches to diagnosis, formulation, and treatment while positioning practitioners to utilize findings from emerging brain research. There is growing consensus that the field of psychiatry would benefit from more familiarity with neuroscience and neuropsychiatry. Yet there remain numerous factors impeding the integration of these domains of knowledge into general psychiatry.The authors make recommendations to move the field forward, focusing on the need for advocacy by psychiatry and medical organizations and changes in psychiatry education at all levels. For individual psychiatrists, the recommendations target obstacles to attaining expanded neuroscience and neuropsychiatry education and barriers stemming from widely held, often unspoken beliefs. For the system of psychiatric care, recommendations address the conceptual and physical separation of psychiatry from medicine, overemphasis on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and on psychopharmacology, and different systems in medicine and psychiatry for handling reimbursement and patient records. For psychiatry residency training, recommendations focus on expanding neuroscience/neuropsychiatry faculty and integrating neuroscience education throughout the curriculum.Psychiatry traditionally concerns itself with helping individuals construct meaningful life narratives. Brain function is one of the fundamental determinants of individuality. It is now possible for psychiatrists to integrate knowledge of neuroscience into understanding the whole person by asking, What person has this brain? How does this brain make this person unique? How does this brain make this disorder unique? What treatment will help this disorder in this person with this brain?

Traditional Knowledge of Local Wisdom of Ammatoa Kajang Tribe (South Sulawesi) about Environmental Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Surtikanti, H. K.; Syulasmi, A.; Ramdhani, N.

2017-09-01

Education may improve the knowledge how to build the people attitude especially environmental aware surrounding it. The aim was to study about environmental education of the local wisdom people in conserving their environment. The method was qualitative descriptive using second document, questioner/interview instrument and field observation. This research is done in local wisdom of Ammatoa Kajang village (South Sulawesi). The respondens were eldery people (tetua adat), local governmentand people(15 adult couplesand 15children). The majority of local people was educated at elementary school. Environmental education is studied in school, however informal education is heritated from eldery people. The field study showed that the people keep the environment wisely. It can be proved with the presence of sacred forest, waste recycle, moor (tegalan) maintainance, mutual cooperation, no natural resource exploitation, keep clean, etc. The people submissive customs rules and believe that people will get punishment form environment itself. In conclusion, traditional knowledge from community is implemented in caring the environment

Homeland Security Knowledge Management for Local Law Enforcement in the National Capital Region

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Walker, Deirdre I

2005-01-01

.... Using existing knowledge (derived primarily from the emergency management field), police agencies have worked to develop locally relevant, viable and available expertise in the developing field of HLS...

Evaluating the use of local ecological knowledge to monitor hunted tropical-forest wildlife over large spatial scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luke Parry

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Monitoring the distribution and abundance of hunted wildlife is critical to achieving sustainable resource use, yet adequate data are sparse for most tropical regions. Conventional methods for monitoring hunted forest-vertebrate species require intensive in situ survey effort, which severely constrains spatial and temporal replication. Integrating local ecological knowledge (LEK into monitoring and management is appealing because it can be cost-effective, enhance community participation, and provide novel insights into sustainable resource use. We develop a technique to monitor population depletion of hunted forest wildlife in the Brazilian Amazon, based on the local ecological knowledge of rural hunters. We performed rapid interview surveys to estimate the landscape-scale depletion of ten large-bodied vertebrate species around 161 Amazonian riverine settlements. We assessed the explanatory and predictive power of settlement and landscape characteristics and were able to develop robust estimates of local faunal depletion. By identifying species-specific drivers of depletion and using secondary data on human population density, land form, and physical accessibility, we then estimated landscape- and regional-scale depletion. White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari, for example, were estimated to be absent from 17% of their putative range in Brazil's largest state (Amazonas, despite 98% of the original forest cover remaining intact. We found evidence that bushmeat consumption in small urban centers has far-reaching impacts on some forest species, including severe depletion well over 100 km from urban centers. We conclude that LEK-based approaches require further field validation, but have significant potential for community-based participatory monitoring as well as cost-effective, large-scale monitoring of threatened forest species.

Memory integration in amnesia: prior knowledge supports verbal short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Race, Elizabeth; Palombo, Daniela J; Cadden, Margaret; Burke, Keely; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-04-01

Short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) have traditionally been considered cognitively distinct. However, it is known that STM can improve when to-be-remembered information appears in contexts that make contact with prior knowledge, suggesting a more interactive relationship between STM and LTM. The current study investigated whether the ability to leverage LTM in support of STM critically depends on the integrity of the hippocampus. Specifically, we investigated whether the hippocampus differentially supports between-domain versus within-domain STM-LTM integration given prior evidence that the representational domain of the elements being integrated in memory is a critical determinant of whether memory performance depends on the hippocampus. In Experiment 1, we investigated hippocampal contributions to within-domain STM-LTM integration by testing whether immediate verbal recall of words improves in MTL amnesic patients when words are presented in familiar verbal contexts (meaningful sentences) compared to unfamiliar verbal contexts (random word lists). Patients demonstrated a robust sentence superiority effect, whereby verbal STM performance improved in familiar compared to unfamiliar verbal contexts, and the magnitude of this effect did not differ from that in controls. In Experiment 2, we investigated hippocampal contributions to between-domain STM-LTM integration by testing whether immediate verbal recall of digits improves in MTL amnesic patients when digits are presented in a familiar visuospatial context (a typical keypad layout) compared to an unfamiliar visuospatial context (a random keypad layout). Immediate verbal recall improved in both patients and controls when digits were presented in the familiar compared to the unfamiliar keypad array, indicating a preserved ability to integrate activated verbal information with stored visuospatial knowledge. Together, these results demonstrate that immediate verbal recall in amnesia can benefit from two

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy and Integral Calculus: Unpacking the Knowledge Dimension

Science.gov (United States)

Radmehr, Farzad; Drake, Michael

2017-01-01

In this paper, the knowledge dimension for Revised Bloom's taxonomy (RBT) is unpacked for integral calculus. As part of this work, the 11 subtypes of the knowledge dimension are introduced, and through document analysis of chapter 4 of the RBT handbook, these subtypes are defined. Then, by consulting materials frequently used for teaching integral…

A Local Dimension of Integration Policies? A Comparative Study of Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Dekker (Rianne); H. Emilsson (Henrik); B. Krieger (Bernhard); P.W.A. Scholten (Peter)

2015-01-01

textabstractThis study examines three theses on local integration policies by a qualitative comparative case study of integration policies in three cities in three different countries (Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam). We found little evidence of a congruent local dimension of integration policies.

Cognition and Knowledge Sharing in Post-acquisition Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jaura, Manya; Michailova, Snejina

2014-01-01

conducted with ten respondents in four Indian IT companies that have acquired firms abroad. Findings: The authors find evidence for supporting the negative effect of in- and out-groups differentiation and the positive effect of interpersonal interaction on knowledge sharing among employees of the acquired...... of organisational objectives in a post-acquisition context. Managers should understand that the knowledge their employees possess is a strategic asset, and therefore how they use it is influential in attaining organisational goals in general, and acquisition integration objectives in particular. The creation...... of task- and project-related communities or groups can help in establishing a shared organisational identity, especially after the turbulent event of one company acquiring another one. The creation of communities or groups where socialisation is encouraged can lead to employees interacting with one...

The Integrated Knowledge Space - the Foundation for Enhancing the Effectiveness of the University’s Innovative Activity

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Yury TELNOV

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper examines the implementation of Integrated Knowledge Space as an effective method for knowledge management in a global university network which will integrate all interested parties of the educational space: the faculty, scholars and business people within the framework of distributed departments on the basis of Information Centre of Disciplines (ICD. ICD enables higher education institutions to accumulate and make on-line renewal of knowledge for teaching and learning processes and for enhancing innovation potential. ICD facilitates the development of human and relational capital of integrated and interconnected educational, research and business communities.

An experiential approach to improving the integration of knowledge during EIA in transport planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soria-Lara, Julio A., E-mail: julio.soria-lara@ouce.ox.ac.uk [Transport Research Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY (United Kingdom); Bertolini, Luca, E-mail: l.bertolini@uva.nl [Centre for Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166 1018 WV Amsterdam (Netherlands); Brömmelstroet, Marco te, E-mail: M.C.G.teBrommelstroet@uva.nl [Centre for Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166 1018 WV Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2016-01-15

The integration of knowledge from stakeholders and the public at large is seen as one of the biggest process-related barriers during the scoping phase of EIA application in transport planning. While the academic literature offers abundant analyses, discussions and suggestions how to overcome this problem, the proposed solutions are yet to be adequately tested in practice. In order to address this gap, we test the effectiveness of a set of interventions and trigger mechanisms for improving different aspects of knowledge integration. The interventions are tested in an experiential study with two sequential cases, representing “close-to-real-life” conditions, in the context of two cities in Andalusia, Spain. In general terms, the participants perceived that the integration of knowledge improved during the simulation of the EIA scoping phase. Certain shortcomings were also discussed, fundamentally related to how the time spent during the scoping phase was crucial to lead an effective learning process between the involved people. The study concludes with a reflection on the effectiveness of the tested interventions according to similarities and differences obtained from the two experiential case studies, as well as with a discussion of the potential to generate new knowledge through the use of experiential studies in EIA practice. - Highlights: • It tests a set of interventions and mechanisms to improve the integration of knowledge. • The scoping phase of EIA is simulated to assess the effectiveness of interventions. • Two sequential case studies are used.

An experiential approach to improving the integration of knowledge during EIA in transport planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soria-Lara, Julio A.; Bertolini, Luca; Brömmelstroet, Marco te

2016-01-01

The integration of knowledge from stakeholders and the public at large is seen as one of the biggest process-related barriers during the scoping phase of EIA application in transport planning. While the academic literature offers abundant analyses, discussions and suggestions how to overcome this problem, the proposed solutions are yet to be adequately tested in practice. In order to address this gap, we test the effectiveness of a set of interventions and trigger mechanisms for improving different aspects of knowledge integration. The interventions are tested in an experiential study with two sequential cases, representing “close-to-real-life” conditions, in the context of two cities in Andalusia, Spain. In general terms, the participants perceived that the integration of knowledge improved during the simulation of the EIA scoping phase. Certain shortcomings were also discussed, fundamentally related to how the time spent during the scoping phase was crucial to lead an effective learning process between the involved people. The study concludes with a reflection on the effectiveness of the tested interventions according to similarities and differences obtained from the two experiential case studies, as well as with a discussion of the potential to generate new knowledge through the use of experiential studies in EIA practice. - Highlights: • It tests a set of interventions and mechanisms to improve the integration of knowledge. • The scoping phase of EIA is simulated to assess the effectiveness of interventions. • Two sequential case studies are used.

Small trails, great knowledge: local ecological knowledge shared by children and teenagers of a rural school in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Riat

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Deforestation and forests fragmentation in Argentina and particularly in Santiago del Estero have favored the loss of biodiversity in recent decades. Ethnobiological studies in the province have shown the presence of peasant families in relict of dry forests, who subsist through multiple use strategy (MUS. As it is necessary to develop conservation strategies that include local knowledge and recognize children and adolescents as key players, we conducted a study on the local botanical knowledge of children and adolescents, inquiring about how many and which uses of plant species they know. Field ethnobotanic techniques were used, among them ludic techniques and participative preparation of a territorial map. Children and adolescents recognized 36 plant species. Three principal microenvironments, tours and spaces that function as meeting places outside the households were identified. Finally, a discussion on the inclusion of knowledge of children in school settings is presented, to strengthen a process of teaching and learning, and an education that fosters the conservation of biocultural diversity.

Attitudes and local ecological knowledge of experts fishermen in relation to conservation and bycatch of sea turtles (reptilia: testudines), Southern Bahia, Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The use of ethnoecological tools to evaluate possible damage and loss of biodiversity related to the populations of species under some degree of threat may represent a first step towards integrating the political management of natural resources and conservation strategies. From this perspective, this study investigates fishermen’s ecological knowledge about sea turtles and attitudes towards the conservation and bycatch in Ilhéus, Southern Bahia, Brazil. Methods Fishermen experts semi-structured interviews were performed using snowball sampling method. The interviews consisted of a series of questions relating to the fishermen’s profile, structure and work equipment, the local ecological knowledge of fishermen about sea turtles and bycatch, a projective test, attitudes towards turtle conservation and beliefs and taboos regarding turtles. Indicators for quantitative comparisons of respondents in terms of their broad knowledge and attitudes towards turtle conservation were created. Correlation analyses were made between indicators of knowledge and attitude as well as the relationship between education level and knowledge and attitudes. Results Thirty experts were interviewed for the study. The local ecological knowledge and attitudes of fishermen towards the conservation of sea turtles were respectively medium (0.43) and moderate (0.69) according to experts (based on Likert scale and Cronbach’s Alpha). Potential areas of spawning were reported from Barra Grande to Una covering the entire coast of Ilhéus. Methods for identifying the animal, behavior, and popular names were described by fishermen. The most recent captures of turtles were attributed to fishing line, but according to the respondents, lobster nets and shrimp traps are more likely to capture turtles. Knowledge and attitudes were weakly inversely correlated (r = −0.38, p = 0.04), and the education level of the respondent showed a positive correlation with positive attitudes

Local farmers' approach to soil conservation: Lessons from Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper explores the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) approaches to soil conservation in Nigeria. It specifically identifies various indigenous/local and modern methods employed in the process of utilizing an integrated approach to soil conservation by all stakeholders (local farmers, governmental and ...

On a non-local gas dynamics like integrable hierarchy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunelli, Jose Carlos; Das, Ashok

2004-01-01

We study a new hierarchy of equations derived from the system of isentropic gas dynamics equations where the pressure is a non-local function of the density. We show that the hierarchy of equations is integrable. We construct the two compatible Hamiltonian structures and show that the first structure has three distinct Casimirs while the second has one. The existence of Casimirs allows us to extend the flows to local ones. We construct an infinite series of commuting local Hamiltonians as well as three infinite series (related to the three Casimirs) of non-local charges. We discuss the zero curvature formulation of the system where we obtain a simple expression for the non-local conserved charges, which also clarifies the existence of the three series from a Lie algebraic point of view. We point out that the non-local hierarchy of Hunter-Zheng equations can be obtained from our non-local flows when the dynamical variables are properly constrained. (author)

Localizing genes using linkage disequilibrium in plants: integrating ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

GREGO

2007-03-19

Mar 19, 2007 ... Localizing genes using linkage disequilibrium in plants: integrating lessons ... reduce that association as a function of the marker distance from the QTL. ..... the gene locus enhanced the resolution power of asso- ciation tests .... agents, such as insects, birds, water and wind, so mating is determined by a ...

Indigenous knowledge system of bush tea from the local people in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The article provides a report on a survey conducted in selected villages of Thohoyandou and Nzhelele in Venda, Limpopo Province of South Africa by means of personal interviews. The aim of the survey was to gather indigenous knowledge and to validate the uses of bush tea as claimed by the local people. The interviews ...

A Local Dimension of Integration Policies? A Comparative Study of Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam

OpenAIRE

Dekker, Rianne; Emilsson, Henrik; Krieger, Bernhard; Scholten, Peter

2015-01-01

textabstractThis study examines three theses on local integration policies by a qualitative comparative case study of integration policies in three cities in three different countries (Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam). We found little evidence of a congruent local dimension of integration policies. Local policies resemble their national policy frameworks fairly well in terms of policy approaches and domains. Our multi-level perspective shows that this is not the result of top-down hierarchical g...

Integrating knowledge seeking into knowledge management models and frameworks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francois Lottering

2012-09-01

Objectives: This article investigates the theoretical status of the knowledge-seeking process in extant KM models and frameworks. It also statistically describes knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies. Using this data, it proposes a KM model based on knowledge seeking. Method: Knowledge seeking is traced in a number of KM models and frameworks with a specific focus on Han Lai and Margaret Graham’s adapted KM cycle model, which separates knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing. This empirical investigation used a questionnaire to examine knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies. Results: This article critiqued and elaborated on the adapted KM cycle model of Lai and Graham. It identified some of the key features of knowledge seeking practices in the workplace. It showed that knowledge seeking and sharing are human-centric actions and that seeking knowledge uses trust and loyalty as its basis. It also showed that one cannot separate knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing. Conclusion: The knowledge seeking-based KM model elaborates on Lai and Graham’s model. It provides insight into how and where people seek and share knowledge in the workplace. The article concludes that it is necessary to cement the place of knowledge seeking in KM models as well as frameworks and suggests that organisations should apply its findings to improving their knowledge management strategies.

Do large-scale assessments measure students' ability to integrate scientific knowledge?

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hee-Sun

2010-03-01

Large-scale assessments are used as means to diagnose the current status of student achievement in science and compare students across schools, states, and countries. For efficiency, multiple-choice items and dichotomously-scored open-ended items are pervasively used in large-scale assessments such as Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). This study investigated how well these items measure secondary school students' ability to integrate scientific knowledge. This study collected responses of 8400 students to 116 multiple-choice and 84 open-ended items and applied an Item Response Theory analysis based on the Rasch Partial Credit Model. Results indicate that most multiple-choice items and dichotomously-scored open-ended items can be used to determine whether students have normative ideas about science topics, but cannot measure whether students integrate multiple pieces of relevant science ideas. Only when the scoring rubric is redesigned to capture subtle nuances of student open-ended responses, open-ended items become a valid and reliable tool to assess students' knowledge integration ability.

Diversity of use and local knowledge of wild edible plant resources in Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uprety Yadav

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Wild edible plants (WEP provide staple and supplement foods, as well as cash income to local communities, thus favouring food security. However, WEP are largely ignored in land use planning and implementation, economic development, and biodiversity conservation. Moreover, WEP-related traditional knowledge is rapidly eroding. Therefore, we designed this study to fulfill a part of the knowledge gap by providing data on diversity, traditional knowledge, economic potential, and conservation value of WEP from Nepal. Methods The information was collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Percentage of general utility of the plants among the study communities was evaluated using the Chi-square (χ2 test of homogeneity. High priority species were identified after consultation with the local stakeholders followed by scoring based on defined criteria. Pairwise ranking was used to assess ethnoecological knowledge to identify the threats to WEP. Results We documented 81 species belonging to Angiosperms (74, Pteridophytes (5, and Fungi (2. Most of the species were used as fruits (44 species followed by vegetables (36. Almost half of the species (47% were also used for purposes other than food. From the species with market value (37% of the total, 10 were identified as high priority species. Pairwise ranking revealed that WEP are threatened mostly by habitat destruction, land-use change and over-harvesting. Some of these plants are crop wild relatives and could thus be used for crop improvement. Interestingly, our study also revealed that young people who spend most of the time in the forest as herdsmen are particularly knowledgeable of wild fruit plants. Conclusion We provide empirical evidence from a relatively large area of Nepal about diversity and status of WEP, as well as methodological insights about the proper knowledge holders to consult. Regarding the unique and important knowledge they have on WEP

Integrating knowledge seeking into knowledge management models and frameworks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francois Lottering

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Background: A striking feature of the knowledge management (KM literature is that the standard list of KM processes either subsumes or overlooks the process of knowledge seeking. Knowledge seeking is manifestly under-theorised, making the need to address this gap in KM theory and practice clear and urgent.Objectives: This article investigates the theoretical status of the knowledge-seeking process in extant KM models and frameworks. It also statistically describes knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies. Using this data, it proposes a KM model based on knowledge seeking.Method: Knowledge seeking is traced in a number of KM models and frameworks with a specific focus on Han Lai and Margaret Graham’s adapted KM cycle model, which separates knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing. This empirical investigation used a questionnaire to examine knowledge seeking and knowledge sharing practices in a sample of South African companies.Results: This article critiqued and elaborated on the adapted KM cycle model of Lai and Graham. It identified some of the key features of knowledge seeking practices in the workplace. It showed that knowledge seeking and sharing are human-centric actions and that seeking knowledge uses trust and loyalty as its basis. It also showed that one cannot separate knowledge seeking from knowledge sharing.Conclusion: The knowledge seeking-based KM model elaborates on Lai and Graham’s model. It provides insight into how and where people seek and share knowledge in the workplace. The article concludes that it is necessary to cement the place of knowledge seeking in KM models as well as frameworks and suggests that organisations should apply its findings to improving their knowledge management strategies. 

Searching for Synergy: Integrating Traditional and Scientific Ecological Knowledge in Environmental Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kimmerer, Robin Wall

2012-01-01

Scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) is a powerful discipline for diagnosing and analyzing environmental degradation, but has been far less successful in devising sustainable solutions which lie at the intersection of nature and culture. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of indigenous and local peoples is rich in prescriptions for the…

Subsidiary Roles and Reverse Knowledge Transfer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rabbiosi, Larissa

2011-01-01

In response to the increasing need to balance the pressures of global integration and local responsiveness, foreign subsidiaries must play a prominent role in the creation of knowledge that is valuable to the MNE as a whole. In this context, a key managerial problem relates to the balance between...

An Integrated Model for Effective Knowledge Management in Chinese Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

An, Xiaomi; Deng, Hepu; Wang, Yiwen; Chao, Lemen

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide organizations in the Chinese cultural context with a conceptual model for an integrated adoption of existing knowledge management (KM) methods and to improve the effectiveness of their KM activities. Design/methodology/approaches: A comparative analysis is conducted between China and the western…

Integrating climate change adaptation into Dutch local policies and the role of contextual factors.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, Maya Marieke; Coenen, Franciscus H.J.M.

2012-01-01

Moving towards a more sustainable adaptation process requires closer integration of policies related to the environment. An important actor in this is the local government. This paper examines to what extend adaptation is currently being integrated into Dutch local policies, and what the role is of

Knowledge Sharing, Communities of Practice, and Learning Asset Integration - DAU's Major Initiatives

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hickok, John

2005-01-01

.... What follows is an overview of Knowledge Sharing through the eyes of the Defense Acquisition University, along with some new initiatives called Learning Asset Integration and Workflow Learning...

The integration of expert knowledge in decision support systems for facility location planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arentze, T.A.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

1995-01-01

The integration of expert systems in DSS has led to a new generation of systems commonly referred to as knowledge-based or intelligent DSS. This paper investigates the use of expert system technology for the development of a knowledge-based DSS for the planning of retail and service facilities. The

Challenges and promises of integrating knowledge engineering and qualitative methods

Science.gov (United States)

Lundberg, C. Gustav; Holm, Gunilla

Our goal is to expose some of the close ties that exist between knowledge engineering (KE) and qualitative methodology (QM). Many key concepts of qualitative research, for example meaning, commonsense, understanding, and everyday life, overlap with central research concerns in artificial intelligence. These shared interests constitute a largely unexplored avenue for interdisciplinary cooperation. We compare and take some steps toward integrating two historically diverse methodologies by exploring the commonalities of KE and QM both from a substantive and a methodological/technical perspective. In the second part of this essay, we address knowledge acquisition problems and procedures. Knowledge acquisition within KE has been based primarily on cognitive psychology/science foundations, whereas knowledge acquisition within QM has a broader foundation in phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnomethodology. Our discussion and examples are interdisciplinary in nature. We do not suggest that there is a clash between the KE and QM frameworks, but rather that the lack of communication potentially may limit each framework's future development.

Local ecological knowledge related with marine ecosystems in two coastal communities: El Valle and Sapzurro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Correa, Sandra Liliana; Turbay, Sandra; Velez, Madelene

2012-01-01

The inhabitants of the Colombian coastal populations of El Valle, in the Pacific, and Sapzurro, in the Caribbean Darien, have ecological knowledge about coastal ecosystems that is a result of their constant relation with the sea, through fishing and navigation. The sea is a source of food and economical resources, but it is also the sphere where the male personality is forged. The accurate knowledge about mangrove, coral, coral reef, beaches and fishing grounds has been enriched through the dialog between local inhabitants and researchers in the conservation biology field. However, the tensions with researchers and environmental authorities still exist. The paper suggests that local ecological knowledge studies could be a starting point for maintaining a more horizontal dialogue between environmentalist and the populations with livelihoods derived of fishing.

Local first integrals for systems of differential equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiang

2003-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to provide some sufficient conditions for a system of differential equations to have local first integrals in a certain neighbourhood of a singularity. Our results generalize those given in Kwek et al (2003 Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 54 26) and Li et al (2003 Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 54 235)

An Integrated Approach to Indoor and Outdoor Localization

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-17

TITLE AND SUBTITLE An Integrated Approach to Indoor and Outdoor Localization 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA9550-12-1-0299 5c.   PROGRAM ELEMENT...Distribution approved for public release. Figure 5: A flowchart of the method of computing an initial position estimate by comparing a single WiFi scan

Exploration of student's creativity by integrating STEM knowledge into creative products

Science.gov (United States)

Mayasari, Tantri; Kadarohman, Asep; Rusdiana, Dadi; Kaniawati, Ida

2016-02-01

Creativity is an important capability that should be held to competitive standards in the 21st century in entering the era of information and knowledge. It requires a creative generation that is able to innovate to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex future. This study examines the student's creativity level by integrating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) knowledge to make creative products in renewable energy (solar energy). Total respondents in this study were 29 students who take applied science course. This research used qualitative and quantitative method (mixed methods), and used "4P" dimension of creativity to assess student's creativity level. The result showed a creative product is influenced by STEM knowledge that can support student's creativity while collaborating an application of knowledge, skills, and ability to solve daily problems associated with STEM.

Applying fuzzy integral for evaluating intensity of knowledge work in jobs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jalil Heidary Dahooie

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this article, a framework is proposed to define and identify knowledge work intensity in jobs, quantitatively. For determining the Knowledge Work Intensity Score (KWIS of a job, it is supposed that the job comprises some tasks and KWIS of the job is determined based on knowledge intensity of these tasks. Functional Job Analysis (FJA method is applied to determine tasks of jobs and then Task’s Knowledge Intensity Score (TKIS is computed by using Fuzzy integral method. Besides, importance weight and time weight of tasks are determined by utilizing appropriate methods. Finally, KWIS is calculated by a formula composed of tasks’ TKISs and the weights. For evaluating applicability of the framework, it is applied to calculate KWISs of two jobs (Deputy of Finance and service, Laboratory technician.

Local and Indigenous Knowledge Regarding the Land Use and Use of Other Natural Resources in the Aspiring Rio Coco Geopark

Science.gov (United States)

Pásková, Martina

2017-12-01

There is a limited number of studies describing the situation and importance of current or potential usage of the local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge in the region of Northern Nicaragua. To fill this gap, the author supported by a local team conducted the participative research in this rather neglected Central American region, concretely in the northern area of the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark. The purpose of this research was to identify the local and indigenous knowledge regarding the present and traditional use of natural resources including land use and to analyse the contribution and potential of the usage of this knowledge for the local development sustainability. The practical long-term impact of this research is expected mainly in the form of enhancement of the local geotourism sustainability. The research process itself was of the same importance as its results, especially the involvement of the local and indigenous people. In this participative research, young local and indigenous people obtained training and served as co-investigators who later interviewed representatives of the local households. The other field methods included life history of elders, discussions in the focal groups involving common people from local communities as well as the mapping and photo-documentation of the identified local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge. The participative character of the research process not only facilitated the data collection and validation but also supported the revival of the community memory and revitalization of its cultural and natural identity. The research findings point out that the more distant and more dispersed are the local settlements the better conserved local and indigenous knowledge regarding the traditional land use and other use of natural resources is. Among the best-conserved local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge in the northern area of the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark was the usage of

The role of local theories: teacher knowledge and its impact on engaging students with challenging tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Choppin, Jeffrey

2011-03-01

This study explores the extent to which a teacher elicited students' mathematical reasoning through the use of challenging tasks and the role her knowledge played in doing so. I characterised the teacher's knowledge in terms of a local theory of instruction, a form of pedagogical content knowledge that involves an empirically tested set of conjectures situated within a mathematical domain. Video data were collected and analysed and used to stimulate the teacher's reflection on her enactments of an instructional sequence. The teacher, chosen for how she consistently elicited student reasoning, showed evidence of possessing a local theory in that she articulated the ways student thinking developed over time, the processes by which that thinking developed, and the resources that facilitated the development of student thinking. Her knowledge informed how she revised and enacted challenging tasks in ways that elicited and refined student thinking around integer addition and subtraction. Furthermore, her knowledge and practices emphasised the progressive formalisation of students' ideas as a key learning process. A key implication of this study is that teachers are able to develop robust knowledge from enacting challenging tasks, knowledge that organises how they elicit and refine student reasoning from those tasks.

Assessing land cover performance in Senegal, West Africa using 1-km integrated NDVI and local variance analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Budde, M.E.; Tappan, G.; Rowland, James; Lewis, J.; Tieszen, L.L.

2004-01-01

The researchers calculated seasonal integrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for each of 7 years using a time-series of 1-km data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) (1992-93, 1995) and SPOT Vegetation (1998-2001) sensors. We used a local variance technique to identify each pixel as normal or either positively or negatively anomalous when compared to its surroundings. We then summarized the number of years that a given pixel was identified as an anomaly. The resulting anomaly maps were analysed using Landsat TM imagery and extensive ground knowledge to assess the results. This technique identified anomalies that can be linked to numerous anthropogenic impacts including agricultural and urban expansion, maintenance of protected areas and increased fallow. Local variance analysis is a reliable method for assessing vegetation degradation resulting from human pressures or increased land productivity from natural resource management practices. ?? 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Maximally-localized position, Euclidean path-integral, and thermodynamics in GUP quantum mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Bernardo, Reginald Christian S.; Esguerra, Jose Perico H.

2018-04-01

In dealing with quantum mechanics at very high energies, it is essential to adapt to a quasiposition representation using the maximally-localized states because of the generalized uncertainty principle. In this paper, we look at maximally-localized states as eigenstates of the operator ξ = X + iβP that we refer to as the maximally-localized position. We calculate the overlap between maximally-localized states and show that the identity operator can be expressed in terms of the maximally-localized states. Furthermore, we show that the maximally-localized position is diagonal in momentum-space and that the maximally-localized position and its adjoint satisfy commutation and anti-commutation relations reminiscent of the harmonic oscillator commutation and anti-commutation relations. As application, we use the maximally-localized position in developing the Euclidean path-integral and introduce the compact form of the propagator for maximal localization. The free particle momentum-space propagator and the propagator for maximal localization are analytically evaluated up to quadratic-order in β. Finally, we obtain a path-integral expression for the partition function of a thermodynamic system using the maximally-localized states. The partition function of a gas of noninteracting particles is evaluated. At temperatures exceeding the Planck energy, we obtain the gas' maximum internal energy N / 2 β and recover the zero heat capacity of an ideal gas.

Integrating the environment in local strategic planning : Guidelines (Case of Morocco)

Science.gov (United States)

Benbrahim, Hafsa

2018-05-01

Since 2010, an advanced regionalization project has been initiated by Morocco, which plans to consolidate the processes of decentralization and deconcentration by extending the powers of the regions and other local authorities. This project, institutionalized in the 2011 Constitution, defines the territorial organization of the Kingdom and reinforces decentralization according to a model of advanced regionalization. Through advanced regionalization, Morocco aims at integrated and sustainable development in economic, social, cultural and environmental terms, through the development of the potential and resources of each region. However, in order to honor this commitment of advanced regionalization, local authorities must be assisted in adopting a local strategic planning approach, allowing them to develop territorial plans for sustainable development in accordance with the national legal framework, specifically the Framework law 99-12, and international commitments in terms of environmental protection. This research deals with the issue of environmental governance in relation to the role and duties of local authorities. Thus, the main goal of our study is to present the guidelines to be followed by the local authorities to improve the quality of the environment integration process in the local strategic planning with the aim of putting it in a perspective of sustainable development.

INTEGRATION OF FRACTAL AND NEURAL NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES IN PEDAGOGICAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF TRAINEES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana N Dvoryatkina

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The possibility of statement and solution of the problem of searching of theoretical justification and development of efficient didactic mechanisms of the organization of process of pedagogical monitoring and assessment of level of knowledge of trainees can be based on convergence of the leading psychological and pedagogical, mathematical, and informational technologies with accounting of the modern achievements in science. In the article, the pedagogical expediency of realization of opportunities of means of informational technologies in monitoring and assessment of the composite mathematical knowledge, in the management of cognitive activity of students is proved. The ability to integrate fractal methods and neural network technologies in perfecting of a system of pedagogical monitoring of mathematical knowledge of trainees as a part of the automated training systems (ATS is investigated and realized in practice. It is proved that fractal methods increase the accuracy and depth of estimation of the level of proficiency of students and also complexes of intellectual operations of the integrative qualities allowing to master and apply cross-disciplinary knowledge and abilities in professional activity. Neural network technologies solve a problem of realization of the personal focused tutoring from positions of optimum individualization of mathematical education and self-realization of the person. The technology of projection of integrative system of pedagogical monitoring of knowledge of students includes the following stages: establishment of the required tutoring parameters; definition and preparation of input data for realization of integration of fractal and neural network technologies; development of the diagnostic module as a part of the block of an artificial intelligence of ATS, filling of the databases structured by system; start of system for obtaining the forecast. In development of the integrative automated system of pedagogical

Prospects for rapid gamma-ray burst localization with INTEGRAL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mereghetti, S.; Jennings, D.; Pedersen, H.

1999-01-01

The SPI and IRIS instruments on INTEGRAL will detect greater than or similar to 1 GRB/month within their large fields of view. The accuracy of localization with IBIS will be a few arcminutes, hence adequate for follow-up studies at large, ground-based telescopes. We report on the current studies ...... and simulation activities aimed at designing at the ISDC an effective INTEGRAL Burst Alert System (IBAS) aisle to automatically distribute the positions of GRBs within a few tens of seconds from the event occurrence....

Management of Indigenous Knowledge as a Catalyst towards Improved Information Accessibility to Local Communities: A Literature R

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iyoro Abiodun Olaide

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the existing literature on how the management of indigenous knowledge could lead to its effective utilization. Indigenous knowledge is different from other types of knowledge. It could be an important tool to ensure the sustainability of societal development of local communities.

Incorporation of Nuclear Knowledge Management to the Integrated System of Quality and Technological Innovation in Cubaenergía

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oviedo Rivero, I.; González García, A.; Amado Picasso, M.; Yera López, B.; Contreras, M.; López Núñez, A.; García Rodríguez, B.; Elías Hardy, L. L.; Rivero Blanco, J. M.; Peña Tornet, A.; Quintana Castillo, N.

2016-01-01

Full text: Technical knowledge management and innovation become important tools for organizations to meet the needs and expectations of the market and society in general; especially those related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Since 2011 Cubaenergia, under the model of the UNE 166002, integrated process management Scientific and Technological Innovation to the requirements of NC-ISO 9001, compliance with national regulations applicable to the sector. In September 2015 the new ISO 9001 includes a clause that makes explicit mention knowledge. Although this clause is not a standard for knowledge management nor does it imply its obligatory; Cubaenergia decided to expand its integrated management system to include the Nuclear Knowledge Management system. In this article the conceptual framework for the integration of these three systems, diagnosis in the organization and the proposed design and implementation plan of management knowledge management integrated analyzes R&D and the quality management system in Cubaenergía. (author

Programa integral para la producción de alimentos en el contexto del Desarrollo Local.: La experiencia del municipio Yaguajay, Cuba. Integral program for food production in the context of Local Development: The experience of the Yaguajay municipality, Cuba

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sinaí Boffill

2009-06-01

Full Text Available El artículo brinda la experiencia de un programa para la producción local de alimentos en el municipio Yaguajay, provincia de Sancti Spíritus, que puede servir de referencia a otros municipios con similares características. Dicho programa abarca las empresas pecuaria y de cultivos varios, la empresa agropecuaria y forestal, así como las cooperativas campesinas. Se desarrolla en el contexto del Macroproyecto Yaguajay, a partir del complejo ECOCIST, que integra Educación Superior-Conocimiento-Tecnología-Innovación-Sociedad para fortalecer las interrelaciones con instituciones del conocimiento en el proceso de su apropiación social en un territorio. El programa integral para la producción local de alimentos surge en el año 2004, posee 29 tareas, insertadas en cuatro subprogramas (Pecuario, Cultivos Varios, Forestal y Frutal, e Industrial, se ejecuta mediante proyectos y prioriza la adopción de tecnologías y la capacitación, a partir de la interacción con universidades, centros de investigación y otras organizaciones. Entre los resultados se destacan el autoabastecimiento de leche fresca, la mejora del rebaño vacuno y de su base alimentaria, el desarrollo de la ganadería ovina, porcina y cunícola, municipio de Referencia Nacional en Agricultura Urbana, producción de biopesticidas y la estrategia de eliminación de plantas leñosas indeseables.The paper presents the experience of a program for local food production in the Yaguajay municipality, Sancti Spiritus province, which can be reference for other municipalities with similar characteristics. Such program involves the livestock production and mixed crops enterprises, livestock production and forestry enterprise, as well as farmer cooperatives. It is developed in the context of the Yaguajay Macroproject, from the ECOCIST complex, which integrates Higher Education-Knowledge-Technology-Innovation-Society to enhance the interrelations with knowledge institutions in the process of

Supporting students' knowledge integration with technology-enhanced inquiry curricula

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Jennifer Lopseen

Dynamic visualizations of scientific phenomena have the potential to transform how students learn and understand science. Dynamic visualizations enable interaction and experimentation with unobservable atomic-level phenomena. A series of studies clarify the conditions under which embedding dynamic visualizations in technology-enhanced inquiry instruction can help students develop robust and durable chemistry knowledge. Using the knowledge integration perspective, I designed Chemical Reactions, a technology-enhanced curriculum unit, with a partnership of teachers, educational researchers, and chemists. This unit guides students in an exploration of how energy and chemical reactions relate to climate change. It uses powerful dynamic visualizations to connect atomic level interactions to the accumulation of greenhouse gases. The series of studies were conducted in typical classrooms in eleven high schools across the country. This dissertation describes four studies that contribute to understanding of how visualizations can be used to transform chemistry learning. The efficacy study investigated the impact of the Chemical Reactions unit compared to traditional instruction using pre-, post- and delayed posttest assessments. The self-monitoring study used self-ratings in combination with embedded assessments to explore how explanation prompts help students learn from dynamic visualizations. The self-regulation study used log files of students' interactions with the learning environment to investigate how external feedback and explanation prompts influence students' exploration of dynamic visualizations. The explanation study compared specific and general explanation prompts to explore the processes by which explanations benefit learning with dynamic visualizations. These studies delineate the conditions under which dynamic visualizations embedded in inquiry instruction can enhance student outcomes. The studies reveal that visualizations can be deceptively clear

Tensions in R&D networks : Implications for knowledge search and integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ritala, Paavo; Huizingh, Eelko; Almpanopoulou, Argyro; Wijbenga, Paul

R&D Networks comprise different actors with various goals and motivations. Thus, such networks are filled with tensions that emerge from simultaneously existing, competing or contradictory organizing elements and demands. In this study, we examine the knowledge search and integration behaviour of

Passive Sensor Integration for Vehicle Self-Localization in Urban Traffic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanlei Gu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This research proposes an accurate vehicular positioning system which can achieve lane-level performance in urban canyons. Multiple passive sensors, which include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS receivers, onboard cameras and inertial sensors, are integrated in the proposed system. As the main source for the localization, the GNSS technique suffers from Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS propagation and multipath effects in urban canyons. This paper proposes to employ a novel GNSS positioning technique in the integration. The employed GNSS technique reduces the multipath and NLOS effects by using the 3D building map. In addition, the inertial sensor can describe the vehicle motion, but has a drift problem as time increases. This paper develops vision-based lane detection, which is firstly used for controlling the drift of the inertial sensor. Moreover, the lane keeping and changing behaviors are extracted from the lane detection function, and further reduce the lateral positioning error in the proposed localization system. We evaluate the integrated localization system in the challenging city urban scenario. The experiments demonstrate the proposed method has sub-meter accuracy with respect to mean positioning error.

Small and Local until it hurts? -Architects and Engineers development in a Professional knowledge industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Christian; Buser, Martine

2009-01-01

professional knowledge service AEC-companies in the region of Central Denmark. The aim of the paper is to analyse how SMEs is managed, is innovating, using ICT and their response to the financial crisis.   Drawing on management studies, professional knowledge service is viewed as something precariously...... constructed through interacting with customers. An extensive desk study and two interviews are used to investigate the local AEC-companies, focusing on two micro firms. There is considerable growth among knowledge service companies in the region. The analysis shows that microfirms are indeed distinct......, innovation for example occurs in a complex interplay with limited internal efforts and external networking. And still as a relatively local phenomenon. Even if the financial crisis has considerably impact of the AEC-sector in 2008-9, the microfirms investigated still haven't been impacted and the pain...

Capacity issues in local communities for integral urban regeneration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mrđenović Tatjana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of the research in wider sense is organizational-communication capacity of local communities in Serbia in the frame of sustainable development. Along with this, the paper will explore potentialities of Faludi's model of multiplanning agencies as well as Healey's collaborative theory for better efficiency and effectiveness of planning in the process of urban regeneration. Specifically the paper will research relation between organizational structure of local communities in Serbia and their potentialities to provide adequate communication towards integral information for urban regeneration. Research is framed with a problem of efficiency and effectiveness in creating urban regeneration policies, strategies, designs, and technical solutions. The problem will be focused to Serbian context; characterized with inadequate, transitional, system of governance that is moving from centralistic towards decentralist model. This will be further explored through level and type of participation in the process of urban regeneration. The hypothesis of the research explores the nature of the relation between number and types of communication channels, provided by organizational structure of local communities that should enable effectiveness and efficiency of urban regeneration. In other words the hypothesis is: number and types of communication channels (variable A influences the effectiveness and efficiency of urban planning for sustainable urban regeneration (variable B. The aims of the paper are identification of the regulations between the variables. Expected result is establishing the model for measuring the capacity of local communities for integral urban regeneration.

An integrated framework of knowledge transfer and ICT issues in co-creation value networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bagheri, S.; Kusters, R.J.; Trienekens, J.J.M.; Varajão, J.E.Q.; Cruz-Cunha, M.M.; Martinho, R.; Rijo, R.; Bjørn-Andersen, N.; Turner, R.; Alves, D.

2016-01-01

In dynamic value networks (VNs), knowledge serves as a basis for close collaboration of actors (i.e. firms with their partners and customers) to enhance co-creation of integrated solutions. In order to provide a technical foundation for seamless knowledge transfer among actors, VNs require

Understanding physicians' professional knowledge and practice in research on skilled migration.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiß, Anja

2016-08-01

Research on the integration of migrant professionals into high-skilled labor markets either focuses on differences between nation states which may be exacerbated by national closure or it celebrates the global versatility of professional knowledge, especially in the natural and health sciences. Building on a pragmatist approach to professional knowledge, the article argues that professional knowledge should not be seen as either universal or local, but both the institutionalized and the incorporated aspects of cultural capital are characterized by 'local universality'. Professionals recreate professional knowledge in specific 'local' situations by relating to universal standards and to internalized 'libraries' of situated expert experience. While the more common notion of knowledge as a socially contested resource continues to be relevant for research on skilled migration, professional knowledge should also be seen as emerging in situations in response to socio-material problems. These problems can be structured by the nation-state, but they can also be transnational in nature.

Coastal Hazards and Integration of Impacts in Local Adaptation Planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Carlo Sass; Knudsen, Per; Robenhagen Mølgaard, Mads

-efficiently adapt to and manage impacts of climate change. By construction of a common working platform that is updated with additional data and knowledge, e.g. from future regional models or extreme events, advances in sea level research can more readily be translated into concrete and local impact measures...... of governance and between research, private and public institutions, and the local communities provides: understanding of the immediate and potential future challenges; appreciation of different stakeholder motives, business agendas, legislative constraints etc., and a common focus on how to cost...

Interdisciplinarity to Integrate Knowledge in Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stella Abreu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is an extension of work originally presented at the 2nd International Conference of the Portuguese Society for Engineering Education and aims to describe an interdisciplinarity teaching experiment involving three subjects of the scientific area of Mathematics and a fourth one in the area of Management. Using only one project, the students developed skills, in an integrated way, in the fields of the subjects involved. The structure of the project is described in detail. It is shown how the knowledge obtained in the different subjects is needed and how it connects together to answer the proposed challenges. We report the progress of the students’ work, the main difficulties and the skills developed during this process. We conclude with a reflection on the main problems and gains that may arise in similar projects.

The Capacity to Integrate and Deal with Environmental Issues in Local Transport Policy and Planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Carsten Jahn

2002-01-01

The article identifies and discuss the capacity to integrate and deal with environmental issues in local transport policy-making and planning processes.......The article identifies and discuss the capacity to integrate and deal with environmental issues in local transport policy-making and planning processes....

Supporting Knowledge Integration in Chemistry with a Visualization-Enhanced Inquiry Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Jennifer L.; Linn, Marcia C.

2014-01-01

This paper describes the design and impact of an inquiry-oriented online curriculum that takes advantage of dynamic molecular visualizations to improve students' understanding of chemical reactions. The visualization-enhanced unit uses research-based guidelines following the knowledge integration framework to help students develop coherent…

INTEGRATED DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION FOR THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nistor Razvan

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present system analysis and design elements for the integrated document management solution at local governing authorities in the rural areas. While specifically dealing with the actual management of the Agricultural Register, an important primary unitary evidence document, we also keep a general character of the discussion, in order to argue for the generality of the proposed solution. Hence, for the identified and described problem space we propose an administrative and software infrastructure solution. This work is an empirical research in which our aim is primarily to identify key problems within the local governing authorities from several perspectives concerning the management of the Agricultural Register then to address those problems with an integrated document management system. For the proposed solution we give and argue the general system architecture and describe the key-mechanisms that support quality requirements. The relevance of this research concern is given by the impact of the actual Agricultural Register management on important stakeholders. This can be measured as the satisfaction felt by taxpayers and the performance of the local governing authorities, the Financial Administration, the Agency of Payments and Intervention in Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This work is also intended as a start-point for a new, modern thinking of the governing authorities in their pursue to improve public services. For this, in our work we highlight the importance of complete system analysis at all administrative levels as a main priority concern for all public managers. Our aim is the improvement of the public service by rising the awareness of the decision makers on the necessity of using integrated document management solutions for the provided services. Also, our work aims at increasing the efficiency with which nowadays, governing authorities invest public funds in various IT projects

Integrating declarative knowledge programming styles and tools for building expert systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barbuceanu, M; Trausan-Matu, S; Molnar, B

1987-01-01

The XRL system reported in this paper is an integrated knowledge programming environment whose major research theme is the investigation of declarative knowledge programming styles and features and of the way they can be effectively integrated and used to support AI programming. This investigation is carried out in the context of the structured-object representation paradigm which provides the glue keeping XRL components together. The paper describes several declarative programming styles and associated support tools available in XRL. These include an instantiation system supporting a generalized view of the ubiquous frame installation process, a description based programming system providing a novel declarative programming style which embeds a mathematical oriented description language in the structured object environment and a transformational interpreter for using it, a semantics oriented programming framework which offers a specific semantic construct based approach supporting maintenance and evolution and a self description and self generation tool which applies the latter approach to XRL itself. 29 refs., 16 figs.

Local Knowledge and Adult Learning in Environmental Adult Education: Community-Based Ecotourism in Southern Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Pierre

2009-01-01

This paper examines how local knowledge is employed in environmental adult education in a community-based ecotourism project in an island community in southern Thailand. The study is based on field research and analysis of project websites, media reports and documents. Situated at the intersection of global tourism and a local Thai-Malay Muslim…

Knowledge And Innovation Networks And Territorial Knowledge Management

OpenAIRE

Cappellin, R.

2002-01-01

According to the approach of “territorial networks” the various forms of integration or the various networks, which may be identified in a local economy, may be described as follows: technological integration; Integration of the local labour market; Production integration between the firms; Integration between the service sectors and the manufacturing firms; Financial integration of the firms; Territorial integration at the local level; Social and cultural integration; Relationships of instit...

Requirement Volatility, Standardization and Knowledge Integration in Software Projects: An Empirical Analysis on Outsourced IS Development Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesri Govindaraju

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Information systems development (ISD projects are highly complex, with different groups of people having  to collaborate and exchange their knowledge. Considering the intensity of knowledge exchange that takes place in outsourced ISD projects, in this study a conceptual model was developed, aiming to examine the influence of four antecedents, i.e. standardization, requirement volatility, internal integration, and external integration, on two dependent variables, i.e. process performance and product performance. Data  were collected from 46 software companies in four big cities in Indonesia. The collected data were examined to verify the proposed theoretical model using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM technique. The results show that process performance is significantly influenced by internal integration and standardization, while product performance is  significantly influenced by external integration and  requirement volatility. This study contributes  to a better understanding of how knowledge integration can be managed in outsourced ISD projects in view of increasing their success.

Trust and local knowledge production: Interorganisational collaborations in the Sønderborg region, Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytt, Christine Benna; Winther, Lars

2011-01-01

In the knowledge based economy, knowledge production has become increasingly important for the competitiveness of firms, cities and regions and as an explanatory factor of spatial economic dynamics. In an immense amount of literature in economic geography, sociology and economics it has been argued...... or an input in economic relations. The paper broaden the understanding of trust in local knowledge production by suggesting an approach to trust as an inter-personal feeling to be analysed on three different but interrelated scales depending on the socio-spatial contexts of the actors. The approach avoids...... a reification of interorganisational relations as the place for knowledge production but allows an analysis of trust to move between micro-, meso- and macro scales seeing trust as an inter-personal feeling. The conclusion is that trust in diverse socio-spatial contexts takes on different forms at different...

The role of boundary organizations in co-management: examining the politics of knowledge integration in a marine protected area in Belize

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noella J. Gray

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Marine protected areas (MPAs are an increasingly popular tool for management of the marine commons. Effective governance is essential if MPAs are to achieve their objectives, yet many MPAs face conflicts and governance challenges, including lack of trust and knowledge integration between fishers, scientists, and policy makers. This paper considers the role of a boundary organization in facilitating knowledge integration in a co-managed MPA, the Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve in Belize. Boundary organizations can play an important role in resource management, by bridging the science-policy divide, facilitating knowledge integration, and enabling communication in conditions of uncertainty. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Belize, the paper identifies four challenges for knowledge integration. First, actors have divergent perspectives on whether and how knowledge is being integrated. Second, actors disagree on resource conditions within the MPA and how these should be understood. Third, in order to maintain accountability with multiple actors, including fishers, government, and funders, the boundary organization has promoted the importance of different types of knowledge for different purposes (science and fishers’ knowledge, rather than the integration of these. Finally, a lack of trust and uneven power relations make it difficult to separate knowledge claims from political claims. However, even if knowledge integration proves difficult, boundary organizations may still play an important role by maintaining accountability, providing space for conflicting understandings to co-exist, and ultimately for governance institutions to evolve.

Integrating Ecological and Social Knowledge: Learning from CHANS Research

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Bruce Shindler

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Scientists are increasingly called upon to integrate across ecological and social disciplines to tackle complex coupled human and natural system (CHANS problems. Integration of these disciplines is challenging and many scientists do not have experience with large integrated research projects. However, much can be learned about the complicated process of integration from such efforts. We document some of these lessons from a National Science Foundation-funded CHANS project (Forests, People, Fire and present considerations for developing and engaging in coupled human and natural system projects. Certainly we are not the first to undertake this endeavor, and many of our findings complement those of other research teams. We focus here on the process of coming together, learning to work as an integrated science team, and describe the challenges and opportunities of engaging stakeholders (agency personnel and citizen communities of interests in our efforts. Throughout this project our intention was to foster dialogue among diverse interests and, thus, incorporate this knowledge into uncovering primary social and ecological drivers of change. A primary tool was an agent-based model, Envision, that used this information in landscape simulation, visualization models, and scenario development. Although integration can be an end in itself, the proof of value in the approach can be the degree to which it provides new insights or tools to CHANS, including closer interaction among multiple stakeholders, that could not have been reached without it.

An Analysis of Potential Contributions of the Host Country National Local Liaison Role in Global Knowledge Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vance, Charles; Vaiman, Vlad; Andersen, Torben

2011-01-01

This paper builds on the existing conceptualization of MNC knowledge transfer by exploring the all-important liaison role in global knowledge management played by host country nationals (HCNs), especially those working directly to with expatriate managers. We first discuss this proposed HCN local...... liaison role between expatriate and local employees within theoretical constructs of network theory and absorptive capacity. Then we consider several possible important components and related behavioral functions of this liaison role, including cultural interpreter, communication manager, information...... resource broker, talent developer, and internal change agent. We also consider benefits and limitations of this HCN local liaison role, as well as areas for future exploratory field research to help validate and elucidate this present model of the HCN local liaison role. This model also provides some...

Knowledge-based immunosuppressive therapy for kidney transplant patients--from theoretical model to clinical integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Seeling, Walter; Plischke, Max; de Bruin, Jeroen S; Schuh, Christian

2015-01-01

Immunosuppressive therapy is a risky necessity after a patient received a kidney transplant. To reduce risks, a knowledge-based system was developed that determines the right dosage of the immunosuppresive agent Tacrolimus. A theoretical model, to classify medication blood levels as well as medication adaptions, was created using data from almost 500 patients, and over 13.000 examinations. This model was then translated into an Arden Syntax knowledge base, and integrated directly into the hospital information system of the Vienna General Hospital. In this paper we give an overview of the construction and integration of such a system.

Semantic Data Integration and Knowledge Management to Represent Biological Network Associations.

Science.gov (United States)

Losko, Sascha; Heumann, Klaus

2017-01-01

The vast quantities of information generated by academic and industrial research groups are reflected in a rapidly growing body of scientific literature and exponentially expanding resources of formalized data, including experimental data, originating from a multitude of "-omics" platforms, phenotype information, and clinical data. For bioinformatics, the challenge remains to structure this information so that scientists can identify relevant information, to integrate this information as specific "knowledge bases," and to formalize this knowledge across multiple scientific domains to facilitate hypothesis generation and validation. Here we report on progress made in building a generic knowledge management environment capable of representing and mining both explicit and implicit knowledge and, thus, generating new knowledge. Risk management in drug discovery and clinical research is used as a typical example to illustrate this approach. In this chapter we introduce techniques and concepts (such as ontologies, semantic objects, typed relationships, contexts, graphs, and information layers) that are used to represent complex biomedical networks. The BioXM™ Knowledge Management Environment is used as an example to demonstrate how a domain such as oncology is represented and how this representation is utilized for research.

Designing Critique for Knowledge Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Mie Elissa

Generating explanations is central to science and has the potential to have a powerful impact on students' conceptual understanding in science instruction. However, improving conceptual understanding by generating explanations is a fraught affair: students may struggle with the sense of false clarity that may arise from generating explanations, fail to detect gaps in their understanding, and dismiss salient information that contradict their beliefs. Critiquing explanations has the potential to counteract these pitfalls by exposing students to alternative ideas to contrast with their own. This dissertation seeks to clarify how to design critique in technology-enhanced science instruction to support students in revising their explanations about scientific phenomena, and in doing so, refining their conceptual understanding. Using the Knowledge Integration framework, I revised two technology-enhanced curriculum units, Plate Tectonics and Global Climate Change, in a design partnership between teachers, researchers, and technologists. I conducted a series of studies with sixth-grade students to investigate the conditions under which guided critique of explanations can support revision. The pilot critique study investigated the impact of the revised Plate Tectonics unit on students' understanding of convection, as well as of a preliminary design of critique where students generated and applied their own criteria for what makes a good explanation in science. The guidance study explored how incorporating a complex selection task that features meta-explanatory criteria into critique supports students in distinguishing among different criteria, as well as how students use peer or expert guidance on their initial explanation during revision. The critique study investigated how designing critique with a complex selection task that features plausible alternative ideas and giving guidance on students' critiques support students in distinguishing among a range of relevant ideas

Local Health Integration Networks: Build on their purpose.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, Hugh

2015-11-01

This article provides a high-level overview on the creation of Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) and illustrates the complexities involved in their implementation. To understand regional structures such as LHINs, one must understand the context in which design and execution takes place. The article ends with a commentary on how Ontario is performing post-LHINs and discusses next steps. © 2015 The Canadian College of Health Leaders.

Improving local health workers' knowledge of malaria in the elimination phase-determinants and strategies: a cross-sectional study in rural China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruoxi; Tang, Shangfeng; Yang, Jun; Shao, Tian; Shao, Piaopiao; Liu, Chunyan; Feng, Da; Fu, Hang; Chen, Xiaoyu; Hu, Tao; Feng, Zhanchun

2017-05-19

The current stage of malaria elimination in China requires experienced local health workers with sufficient knowledge of malaria who help to keep the public health system vigilant about a possible resurgence. However, the influencing factors of local health workers' knowledge level are not fully comprehended. This study aims to explore the factors with heavy impact on local health worker's knowledge of malaria and propose corresponding suggestions. Underpinned by stratified sampling method, a cross-sectional survey was carried out between November 2014 and April 2016. Chi square test was performed to identify the factors with potential influence on health workers' knowledge level of malaria. Bivariate logistic regression was employed to explore the relationship between the predictors and local health workers' knowledge level of malaria. Layered Chi square test was used to calculate the homogeneity of the interaction between training approaches and the percentage of participants with high-level knowledge. The endemic type of county and type of organization played the most significant role in influencing local health workers' knowledge level regarding malaria in the sample population. The participants from Type 1 and Type 2 counties were 4.3 times (4.336 and 4.328, respectively) more likely to have high-level knowledge of malaria than those who work in Type 3 counties. The probability of having high-level knowledge amongst the participants from county-level facilities (county hospitals and CDCs) were more than 2.2 times higher than those who work in villages. Other socio-demographic factors, such as education and work experience, also affected one's knowledge regarding malaria. Amongst the six most-used training approaches, electronic material (OR = 2.356, 95% CI 1.112-4.989), thematic series (OR = 1.784, 95% CI 0.907-3.508) and supervision (OR = 2.788, 95% CI 1.018-7.632) were proven with significant positive impact on local health workers' knowledge of

IM (Integrity Management) software must show flexibility to local codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brors, Markus [ROSEN Technology and Research Center GmbH (Germany); Diggory, Ian [Macaw Engineering Ltd., Northumberland (United Kingdom)

2009-07-01

There are many internationally recognized codes and standards, such as API 1160 and ASME B31.8S, which help pipeline operators to manage and maintain the integrity of their pipeline networks. However, operators in many countries still use local codes that often reflect the history of pipeline developments in their region and are based on direct experience and research on their pipelines. As pipeline companies come under increasing regulatory and financial pressures to maintain the integrity of their networks, it is important that operators using regional codes are able to benchmark their integrity management schemes against these international standards. Any comprehensive Pipeline Integrity Management System (PIMS) software package should therefore not only incorporate industry standards for pipeline integrity assessment but also be capable of implementing regional codes for comparison purposes. This paper describes the challenges and benefits of incorporating one such set of regional pipeline standards into ROSEN Asset Integrity Management Software (ROAIMS). (author)

Combined clinical and home rehabilitation: case report of an integrated knowledge-to-action study in a Dutch rehabilitation stroke unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanninga, Christa S; Postema, Klaas; Schönherr, Marleen C; van Twillert, Sacha; Lettinga, Ant T

2015-04-01

There is growing awareness that the poor uptake of evidence in health care is not a knowledge-transfer problem but rather one of knowledge production. This issue calls for re-examination of the evidence produced and assumptions that underpin existing knowledge-to-action (KTA) activities. Accordingly, it has been advocated that KTA studies should treat research knowledge and local practical knowledge with analytical impartiality. The purpose of this case report is to illustrate the complexities in an evidence-informed improvement process of organized stroke care in a local rehabilitation setting. A participatory action approach was used to co-create knowledge and engage local therapists in a 2-way knowledge translation and multidirectional learning process. Evidence regarding rehabilitation stroke units was applied in a straightforward manner, as the setting met the criteria articulated in stroke unit reviews. Evidence on early supported discharge (ESD) could not be directly applied because of differences in target group and implementation environment between the local and reviewed settings. Early supported discharge was tailored to the needs of patients severely affected by stroke admitted to the local rehabilitation stroke unit by combining clinical and home rehabilitation (CCHR). Local therapists welcomed CCHR because it helped them make their task-specific training truly context specific. Key barriers to implementation were travel time, logistical problems, partitioning walls between financing streams, and legislative procedures. Improving local settings with available evidence is not a straightforward application process but rather a matter of searching, logical reasoning, and creatively working with heterogeneous knowledge sources in partnership with different stakeholders. Multiple organizational levels need to be addressed rather than focusing on therapists as sole site of change. © 2015 American Physical Therapy Association.

Analysis of perceptions and knowledge in managing coastal resources: A case study in Fiji

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Jokim Veu Kitolelei

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Sustainable management of coastal resources depends on human knowledge and perceptions of natural resources and coastal environments. However, empirical evidence has been limited in order to understand linkages between knowledge, perceptions and collective actions to achieve sustainable resource management. This case study analyzed perceptions and knowledge among diverse stakeholders: villagers, government officials, scientists and staff of a non-governmental organization who are collaboratively working in a Fijian coastal community to manage the local coastal resources. Analyses were made using the integrated local environmental knowledge (ILEK concept and frameworks of discourse analysis to clarify interlinkages between perceptions, knowledge and collective actions for a variety of examples. Research was conducted in Kumi village on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji, and the investigated projects included the management of a locally managed marine area, seaweed aquaculture, sea cucumber restoration and ginger plantations. These initiatives have shown that diverse knowledge on coastal resources and environments influence perceptions among people in a complex way, and transformation of perceptions produced new sets of knowledge through the generation of hypotheses regarding the management of coastal resources. Collective actions were promoted by the transformation of perceptions, and social learning processes were mobilized by these collective actions. Traditional institutions, cultures and leadership roles deeply embedded in the local communities had strong influences on shared perceptions among community members to provide foundations for collective actions. Dynamic transformations of perceptions promoted by integrated knowledge among community members were critical enablers of collective actions to achieve sustainable resource management.

SKILL OF TEACHER CANDIDATES IN INTEGRATING THE CONCEPT OF SCIENCE WITH LOCAL WISDOM

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Parmin -

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Learning science is not limited to reviewing the concepts, but strengthens the identity of a nation that has a diversity of cultures. Science learning objectives that have been set in Indonesia, including the student is able to apply the science wisely, to maintain and preserve the cultural survival. The study aims to measure students' ability to relate concepts of science with local knowledge to use mind maps compiled individually. The results showed that 85% of teacher candidates are able to determine the relationship of science and local knowledge correctly. The ability to link the two domains, through the literature review, observation and interviews.

Local knowledge of the link between tuberculosis and HIV-1/AIDS among the Turkana of Lodwar township: implications for tuberculosis and HIV-1/AIDS prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Owiti, John Arianda

2008-01-01

This article is extracted from a doctoral thesis that was supported by a research grant from the International Development Research Centre of Canada (IDRC)'s Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health Training Award, the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Northern Ireland's Emslie Horniman Scholarship Fund and McGill University, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Award. This study used a broad theoretical framework encompassing an ecosystem approach to HIV-1/AIDS that partly investigated the nexus between local knowledge of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV-1/AIDS. According to the Turkana of Lodwar township, Kenya, HIV-1/AIDS and TB are largely contagious and are attributed to impersonal and natural causes. In addition, in line with biomedical knowledge, the Turkana's local knowledge emphasises a conceptual link between TB and HIV-1/AIDS. The study also demonstrates that factors of the ecosystem such as kaada, poverty, widow inheritance, migration and other socio-cultural practices play an influential role in the vulnerability of the Turkana to the contraction and transmission of both TB and HIV-1/AIDS. The article posits an integrated approach to the prevention of TB and HIV-1 and to the management of AIDS and TB.

An Integrated Open Approach to Capturing Systematic Knowledge for Manufacturing Process Innovation Based on Collective Intelligence

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Gangfeng Wang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Process innovation plays a vital role in the manufacture realization of increasingly complex new products, especially in the context of sustainable development and cleaner production. Knowledge-based innovation design can inspire designers’ creative thinking; however, the existing scattered knowledge has not yet been properly captured and organized according to Computer-Aided Process Innovation (CAPI. Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated approach to tackle this non-trivial issue. By analyzing the design process of CAPI and technical features of open innovation, a novel holistic paradigm of process innovation knowledge capture based on collective intelligence (PIKC-CI is constructed from the perspective of the knowledge life cycle. Then, a multi-source innovation knowledge fusion algorithm based on semantic elements reconfiguration is applied to form new public knowledge. To ensure the credibility and orderliness of innovation knowledge refinement, a collaborative editing strategy based on knowledge lock and knowledge–social trust degree is explored. Finally, a knowledge management system MPI-OKCS integrating the proposed techniques is implemented into the pre-built CAPI general platform, and a welding process innovation example is provided to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. It is expected that our work would lay the foundation for the future knowledge-inspired CAPI and smart process planning.

Rank aggregation of local expert knowledge for conservation planning of the critically endangered saola.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Nicholas M; Van Duc, Luong

2017-06-01

There has been much recent interest in using local knowledge and expert opinion for conservation planning, particularly for hard-to-detect species. Although it is possible to ask for direct estimation of quantities such as population size, relative abundance is easier to estimate. However, an expert's knowledge is often geographically restricted relative to the area of interest. Combining (or aggregating) experts' assessments of relative abundance is difficult when each expert only knows a part of the area of interest. We used Google's PageRank algorithm to aggregate ranked abundance scores elicited from local experts through a rapid rural-appraisal method. We applied this technique to conservation planning for the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), a poorly known bovid. Near a priority landscape for the species, composed of 3 contiguous protected areas, we asked groups of local people to indicate relative abundances of saola and other species by placing beans on community maps. For each village, we used this information to rank areas within the knowledge area of that village for saola abundance. We used simulations to compare alternative methods to aggregate the rankings from the different villages. The best-performing method was then used to produce a single map of relative abundance across the entire landscape, an area larger than that known to any one village. This map has informed prioritization of surveys and conservation action in the continued absence of direct information about the saola. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

A Methodology for Multiple Rule System Integration and Resolution Within a Singular Knowledge Base

Science.gov (United States)

Kautzmann, Frank N., III

1988-01-01

Expert Systems which support knowledge representation by qualitative modeling techniques experience problems, when called upon to support integrated views embodying description and explanation, especially when other factors such as multiple causality, competing rule model resolution, and multiple uses of knowledge representation are included. A series of prototypes are being developed to demonstrate the feasibility of automating the process of systems engineering, design and configuration, and diagnosis and fault management. A study involves not only a generic knowledge representation; it must also support multiple views at varying levels of description and interaction between physical elements, systems, and subsystems. Moreover, it will involve models of description and explanation for each level. This multiple model feature requires the development of control methods between rule systems and heuristics on a meta-level for each expert system involved in an integrated and larger class of expert system. The broadest possible category of interacting expert systems is described along with a general methodology for the knowledge representation and control of mutually exclusive rule systems.

Local linearization methods for the numerical integration of ordinary differential equations: An overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez, J.C.

2009-06-01

Local Linearization (LL) methods conform a class of one-step explicit integrators for ODEs derived from the following primary and common strategy: the vector field of the differential equation is locally (piecewise) approximated through a first-order Taylor expansion at each time step, thus obtaining successive linear equations that are explicitly integrated. Hereafter, the LL approach may include some additional strategies to improve that basic affine approximation. Theoretical and practical results have shown that the LL integrators have a number of convenient properties. These include arbitrary order of convergence, A-stability, linearization preserving, regularity under quite general conditions, preservation of the dynamics of the exact solution around hyperbolic equilibrium points and periodic orbits, integration of stiff and high-dimensional equations, low computational cost, and others. In this paper, a review of the LL methods and their properties is presented. (author)

North West Surrey's locality hubs - delivering integrated care

OpenAIRE

Compton, Lisa; Wilkinson, Peter; Lawn, Liz

2017-01-01

Introduction: North West Surrey CCG (NWSCCG) is establishing Locality Hubs – physical buildings offering a fully integrated GP-led, multi-disciplinary ‘one-stop-shop’ services in the community for a defined cohort of frail elderly patients with multiple core morbidities. Hubs will ultimately deliver proactive and reactive care, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.The key drivers are;Ageing population, people living longer & more people living with chronic conditionsCost & demand...

Development of an integrated knowledge-base and its management tool for computerized alarm processing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heo, Gyun Young; Choi, Seong Soo; Kim, Han Gon; Chang, Soon Heung

1997-01-01

For a long time, a number of alarm processing techniques have been researched to reduce the number of actuated alarms for operators to deal with effectively during the abnormal as well as the normal conditions. However, the strategy that the only systems with a few clear technologies should be used as a part of an alarm annunciation system has been adopted considering the effectiveness and the reliability in actual alarm processing systems. Therefore, alarm processing systems have difficult knowledge-base maintenance problems and limited expansion or enhancement defects. To solve these shortcomings, the integrated knowledge-base which can express the general information related to all the alarm processing techniques is proposed and its management tool, Knowledge Input Tool for Alarm (KIT-A) which can handle the data of the knowledge-base efficiently is developed. Since the integrated knowledge-base with KIT-A can manipulate all the alarm information without the modification of alarm processing system itself, it is expected to considerably advance the overall capability of maintenance and enhancement of the alarm processing systems

Indicators and Measurement Tools for Health Systems Integration: A Knowledge Synthesis

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Esther Suter

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Despite far reaching support for integrated care, conceptualizing and measuring integrated care remains challenging. This knowledge synthesis aimed to identify indicator domains and tools to measure progress towards integrated care. Methods: We used an established framework and a Delphi survey with integration experts to identify relevant measurement domains. For each domain, we searched and reviewed the literature for relevant tools. Findings: From 7,133 abstracts, we retrieved 114 unique tools. We found many quality tools to measure care coordination, patient engagement and team effectiveness/performance. In contrast, there were few tools in the domains of performance measurement and information systems, alignment of organizational goals and resource allocation. The search yielded 12 tools that measure overall integration or three or more indicator domains. Discussion: Our findings highlight a continued gap in tools to measure foundational components that support integrated care. In the absence of such targeted tools, “overall integration” tools may be useful for a broad assessment of the overall state of a system. Conclusions: Continued progress towards integrated care depends on our ability to evaluate the success of strategies across different levels and context. This study has identified 114 tools that measure integrated care across 16 domains, supporting efforts towards a unified measurement framework.

Indicators and Measurement Tools for Health Systems Integration: A Knowledge Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Oelke, Nelly D.; da Silva Lima, Maria Alice Dias; Stiphout, Michelle; Janke, Robert; Witt, Regina Rigatto; Van Vliet-Brown, Cheryl; Schill, Kaela; Rostami, Mahnoush; Hepp, Shelanne; Birney, Arden; Al-Roubaiai, Fatima; Marques, Giselda Quintana

2017-01-01

Background: Despite far reaching support for integrated care, conceptualizing and measuring integrated care remains challenging. This knowledge synthesis aimed to identify indicator domains and tools to measure progress towards integrated care. Methods: We used an established framework and a Delphi survey with integration experts to identify relevant measurement domains. For each domain, we searched and reviewed the literature for relevant tools. Findings: From 7,133 abstracts, we retrieved 114 unique tools. We found many quality tools to measure care coordination, patient engagement and team effectiveness/performance. In contrast, there were few tools in the domains of performance measurement and information systems, alignment of organizational goals and resource allocation. The search yielded 12 tools that measure overall integration or three or more indicator domains. Discussion: Our findings highlight a continued gap in tools to measure foundational components that support integrated care. In the absence of such targeted tools, “overall integration” tools may be useful for a broad assessment of the overall state of a system. Conclusions: Continued progress towards integrated care depends on our ability to evaluate the success of strategies across different levels and context. This study has identified 114 tools that measure integrated care across 16 domains, supporting efforts towards a unified measurement framework. PMID:29588637

Knowledge Integration and Inter-Disciplinary Communication in Action Research

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Hahn Heidi Ann

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In a plenary talk at WMSCI 2012 entitled "Planning for Action Research: Looking at Practice through a Different Lens," this author asserted that behavioral science practitioners, often "back into" action research – they start out doing a process improvement or intervention and discover something along the way, i.e., generalizable knowledge, that seems worthwhile to share with their community of practice. It was further asserted that, had the efforts been conceived of as research from the outset, the contributions to the body of knowledge would be more robust and the utility of the projects would improve as well. This paper continues on that theme. Action research and process improvement methods are briefly described and compared. A comparison of two Los Alamos National Laboratory engineering ethics training projects – one developed using a process improvement framework, the other using an action research framework – is put forth to provide evidence that use of a research "lens" can enhance behavioral science interventions and the knowledge that may result from them. The linkage between the Specifying Learning and Diagnosing stages of the Action Research Cycle provides one mechanism for integrating the knowledge gained into the product or process being studied and should provide a reinforcing loop that leads to continual improvement. The collaborative relationships among researchers and the individual, group, or organization that is the subject of the imp rovement op p ortunity (the "client", who are likely from very different backgrounds, and the interpretive epistemology that are among the hallmarks of action research also contribute to the quality of the knowledge gained. This paper closes with a discussion of how Inter-Disciplinary Communication is embedded within the action research paradigm and how this likely also enriches the knowledge gained.

A knowledge integration approach to flood vulnerability

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzorana, Bruno; Fuchs, Sven

2014-05-01

Understanding, qualifying and quantifying vulnerability is an essential need for implementing effective and efficient flood risk mitigation strategies; in particular if possible synergies between different mitigation alternatives, such as active and passive measures, should be achieved. In order to combine different risk management options it is necessary to take an interdisciplinary approach to vulnerability reduction, and as a result the affected society may be willing to accept a certain degree of self-responsibility. However, due to differing mono-disciplinary approaches and regional foci undertaken until now, different aspects of vulnerability to natural hazards in general and to floods in particular remain uncovered and as a result the developed management options remain sub-optimal. Taking an even more fundamental viewpoint, the empirical vulnerability functions used in risk assessment specifically fail to capture physical principles of the damage-generating mechanisms to the build environment. The aim of this paper is to partially close this gap by discussing a balanced knowledge integration approach which can be used to resolve the multidisciplinary disorder in flood vulnerability research. Modelling techniques such as mathematical-physical modelling of the flood hazard impact to and response from the building envelope affected, and formative scenario analyses of possible consequences in terms of damage and loss are used in synergy to provide an enhanced understanding of vulnerability and to render the derived knowledge into interdisciplinary mitigation strategies. The outlined formal procedure allows for a convincing knowledge alignment of quantified, but partial, information about vulnerability as a result of the application of physical and engineering notions and valuable, but often underspecified, qualitative argumentation strings emerging from the adopted socio-economic viewpoint.

Integral sustainable development: The example of local geographic milieu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vujadinović Snežana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The local geographic milieu plays a significant role in development of every man because of its orientation in space, a sense of security and belonging to the community and the place where he lives or who perform his activities. In other words, one needs to fall in a particular social group that inhabits an area or to perform some activities able in a space, because that is something that stands out from the rest of the world and marking his individuality. The main long-term goal of development of each local community is to increase the quality of life of all its members, job creation, integration of the local community in a wider social system through health, educational and cultural institutions, creating a network of relationships and connections and correlations of all the actors from the state and public sector up to private enterprise, local authorities and local associations. Of particular importance for Serbia, is a question of development of local rural communities, which is closely linked to issues of sustainable and balanced spatial, socio-economic and demographic development. This issue becomes more important in efforts to prevent existing urban-centric trends and highlighted the economic and demographic polarization of Serbia. .

Exploring the Associations among Nutrition, Science, and Mathematics Knowledge for an Integrative, Food-Based Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Stage, Virginia C.; Kolasa, Kathryn M.; Díaz, Sebastián R.; Duffrin, Melani W.

2018-01-01

Background: Explore associations between nutrition, science, and mathematics knowledge to provide evidence that integrating food/nutrition education in the fourth-grade curriculum may support gains in academic knowledge. Methods: Secondary analysis of a quasi-experimental study. Sample included 438 students in 34 fourth-grade classrooms across…

The effect of the PROSPER partnership model on cultivating local stakeholder knowledge of evidence-based programs: a five-year longitudinal study of 28 communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowley, D Max; Greenberg, Mark T; Feinberg, Mark E; Spoth, Richard L; Redmond, Cleve R

2012-02-01

A substantial challenge in improving public health is how to facilitate the local adoption of evidence-based interventions (EBIs). To do so, an important step is to build local stakeholders' knowledge and decision-making skills regarding the adoption and implementation of EBIs. One EBI delivery system, called PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience), has effectively mobilized community prevention efforts, implemented prevention programming with quality, and consequently decreased youth substance abuse. While these results are encouraging, another objective is to increase local stakeholder knowledge of best practices for adoption, implementation and evaluation of EBIs. Using a mixed methods approach, we assessed local stakeholder knowledge of these best practices over 5 years, in 28 intervention and control communities. Results indicated that the PROSPER partnership model led to significant increases in expert knowledge regarding the selection, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based interventions. Findings illustrate the limited programming knowledge possessed by members of local prevention efforts, the difficulty of complete knowledge transfer, and highlight one method for cultivating that knowledge.

Mapping of suitable zones for manual drilling as a possible solution to increase access to drinking water in Africa through integration of systematized GIS data and local knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Fussi, Fabio; Alvino, Roberta; Caruba, Massimo; Galimberti, Luca; Marzan, Ignacio; Tarrason y Cerda', David; Sabatini, Daniela

2013-04-01

, presence of hand dug well and perception of local geologists; - Suitability according to water depth is related to the depth where exploitable water strikes can be found. it has been estimated through analysis of the spa tial distribution of water level obtained by national inventories of water points and direct experience of drillers; - Geomorphological suitability refers to the existence of a surface morphology that facilitates the accumulation of unconsolidated materials. It has been obtained from SRTM digital elevation model, estimating slope and topographic position index The general suitability has been obtained through the combination of geological and water depth suitability using 2-dimensional tables for the whole country. Morphological suitability has been finally integrated for a more detailed analysis in those areas with hilly topography. The final results provide an important support for the definition of those areas where promotion of manual drilling is a suitable strategy and the choice of specific techniques to apply. Furthermore this study has put in evidence the high value of keeping well organized geographic database for the implementation of correct development strategy in Africa, and in the mean time has given an example of integration of systematized data and traditional knowledge

Climate change and local pollution effects. An integrated approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aaheim, H.A.; Kristin, A.; Seip, H.M.

1999-01-01

Few studies on measures for mitigation of damage caused by man-made emissions to the environment have tried to consider all major effects. We illustrate the importance of an integrated approach by estimating costs and benefits of a proposed energy saving program for Hungary, originally designed to reduce CO 2 emissions. The dominant benefit of implementing the program is likely to be reduced health damage from local pollutants. Also reduced costs of material damage and to a lesser extent vegetation damage contribute to make the net benefit considerable. Compared to the reduction in these local and regional effects, the benefits from reducing greenhouse gases are likely to be minor. Since local effects in general occur much earlier after measures have been implemented than effects of increased emissions of greenhouse gases, inclusion of local effects makes evaluation of climate policy less dependent on the choice of discount rate. In our opinion, similar results are likely for many measures originally designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases particularly in some areas in developing countries with high local pollution levels. Main uncertainties in the analysis, e.g. in the relationships between damage and pollution level, are discussed. 72 refs

Integrating scientific knowledge into large-scale restoration programs: the CALFED Bay-Delta Program experience

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, K.A.; Short, A.

2009-01-01

Integrating science into resource management activities is a goal of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, a multi-agency effort to address water supply reliability, ecological condition, drinking water quality, and levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of northern California. Under CALFED, many different strategies were used to integrate science, including interaction between the research and management communities, public dialogues about scientific work, and peer review. This paper explores ways science was (and was not) integrated into CALFED's management actions and decision systems through three narratives describing different patterns of scientific integration and application in CALFED. Though a collaborative process and certain organizational conditions may be necessary for developing new understandings of the system of interest, we find that those factors are not sufficient for translating that knowledge into management actions and decision systems. We suggest that the application of knowledge may be facilitated or hindered by (1) differences in the objectives, approaches, and cultures of scientists operating in the research community and those operating in the management community and (2) other factors external to the collaborative process and organization.

DETERMINATION OF SPATIAL INTEGRATION AND SUBSTITUTION OF FOREIGN RICE FOR LOCAL RICE IN GHANA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Kofi ADOM

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study tested for spatial integration in the rice market and the substitution of imported rice for local rice in Ghana. It is established that the markets for domestic imported rice are well-integrated, but not complete. The imperfect spatial integration of domestic foreign rice markets implies that the market provides opportunities for arbitrage. Price leadership roles are found to be determined by the kind of sub-inter-regional-trade network defined. However, in all, the Accra market emerged as a dominant market leader in the domestic foreign rice market. There is evidence of significant regional substitution of foreign rice for local rice in the long run, but the result is mixed in the short run. The result that local rice is not a perfect substitute for imported rice implies that price disincentive measures such as increasing the import tariffs on foreign rice will only produce a mild effect on increasing the producer price faced by local rice farmers, but aggravate the burden on households’ budget.

Integrating complex business processes for knowledge-driven clinical decision support systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamaleswaran, Rishikesan; McGregor, Carolyn

2012-01-01

This paper presents in detail the component of the Complex Business Process for Stream Processing framework that is responsible for integrating complex business processes to enable knowledge-driven Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) recommendations. CDSSs aid the clinician in supporting the care of patients by providing accurate data analysis and evidence-based recommendations. However, the incorporation of a dynamic knowledge-management system that supports the definition and enactment of complex business processes and real-time data streams has not been researched. In this paper we discuss the process web service as an innovative method of providing contextual information to a real-time data stream processing CDSS.

On challenges and opportunities of designing integrated IT platforms for supporting knowledge works in organizations

OpenAIRE

Laha, Arijit

2009-01-01

Designing and implementing comprehensive IT-based support environments for KM in organizations is fraught with many problems. Solving them requires intimate knowledge about the information usage in knowledge works and the scopes of technology intervention. In this paper, the Task-oriented Organizational Knowledge Management or TOKM, a design theory for building integrated IT platforms for supporting organizational KM, is proposed. TOKM brings together two apparently mutually exclusive practic...

Strengthening the integrity of local leadership and its relevance to run democratic governance

OpenAIRE

Maulana Mukhlis; Idil Akbar

2018-01-01

Abstract   Even though many aspects that shows how to run a democratic government, but the most important aspect is related to the leadership of integrity. The leadership of integrity put the perspective of power in the orientation of partisanship on the people. In addition, democratic governance at the local level can be run effectively and constructively if in his leadership held with integrity. In other words the leadership of integrity is a requirement to run a democratic governme...

Human Processing of Knowledge from Texts: Acquisition, Integration, and Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

1979-06-01

comprehension. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1977. Craik , F.I.M., and Lockhart , R. S. Levels of processing : for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning A...Table 5.9 presents summary data regarding the performance levels and memory and search processes of individual subjects. The first row in Table 5.9...R-2256-ARP A June 1979 ARPA Order No.: 189-1 9020 Cybernetics Technology Human Processing of Knowledge from Texts: Acquisition, Integration, and

Integrated modeling and characterization of local crack chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savchik, J.A.; Burke, M.S.

1996-01-01

The MULTEQ computer program has become an industry wide tool which can be used to calculate the chemical composition in a flow occluded region as the solution within concentrates due to a local boiling process. These results can be used to assess corrosion concerns in plant equipment such as steam generators. Corrosion modeling attempts to quantify corrosion assessments by accounting for the mass transport processes involved in the corrosion mechanism. MULTEQ has played an ever increasing role in defining the local chemistry for such corrosion models. This paper will outline how the integration of corrosion modeling with the analysis of corrosion films and deposits can lead to the development of a useful modeling tool, wherein MULTEQ is interactively linked to a diffusion and migration transport process. This would provide a capability to make detailed inferences of the local crack chemistry based on the analyses of the local corrosion films and deposits inside a crack and thus provide guidance for chemical fixes to avoid cracking. This methodology is demonstrated for a simple example of a cracked tube. This application points out the utility of coupling MULTEQ with a mass transport process and the feasibility of an option in a future version of MULTEQ that would permit relating film and deposit analyses to the local chemical environment. This would increase the amount of information obtained from removed tube analyses and laboratory testing that can contribute to an overall program for mitigating tubing and crevice corrosion

Integrated modeling and characterization of local crack chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savchik, J.A.; Burke, M.S.

1995-01-01

The MULTEQ computer program has become an industry wide tool which can be used to calculate the chemical composition in a flow occluded region as the solution within concentrates due to a local boiling process. These results can be used to assess corrosion concerns in plant equipment such as steam generators. Corrosion modeling attempts to quantify corrosion assessments by accounting for the mass transport processes involved in the corrosion mechanism. MULTEQ has played an ever increasing role in defining the local chemistry for such corrosion models. This paper will outline how the integration of corrosion modeling with the analysis of corrosion films and deposits can lead to the development of a useful modeling tool, wherein MULTEQ is interactively linked to a diffusion and migration transport process. This would provide a capability to make detailed inferences of the local crack chemistry based on the analyses of the local corrosion films and deposits inside a crack and thus provide guidance for chemical fixes to avoid cracking. This methodology is demonstrated for a simple example of a cracked tube. This application points out the utility of coupling MULTEQ with a mass transport process and the feasibility of an option in a future version of MULTEQ that would permit relating film and deposit analyses to the local chemical environment. This would increase the amount of information obtained from removed tube analyses and laboratory testing that can contribute to an overall program for mitigating tubing and crevice corrosion

Generalized Fractional Integral Operators on Generalized Local Morrey Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. S. Guliyev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We study the continuity properties of the generalized fractional integral operator Iρ on the generalized local Morrey spaces LMp,φ{x0} and generalized Morrey spaces Mp,φ. We find conditions on the triple (φ1,φ2,ρ which ensure the Spanne-type boundedness of Iρ from one generalized local Morrey space LMp,φ1{x0} to another LMq,φ2{x0}, 1integral inequalities on (φ1,φ2,ρ and (φ,ρ, which do not assume any assumption on monotonicity of φ1(x,r, φ2(x,r, and φ(x,r in r.

The rhetoric and realities of integrating air quality into the local transport planning process in English local authorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Olowoporoku, Dotun; Hayes, Enda; Longhurst, James; Parkhurst, Graham

2012-06-30

Regardless of its intent and purposes, the first decade of the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) framework had little or no effect in reducing traffic-related air pollution in the UK. Apart from the impact of increased traffic volumes, the major factor attributed to this failure is that of policy disconnect between the process of diagnosing air pollution and its management, thereby limiting the capability of local authorities to control traffic-related sources of air pollution. Integrating air quality management into the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process therefore presents opportunities for enabling political will, funding and joined-up policy approach to reduce this limitation. However, despite the increased access to resources for air quality measures within the LTP process, there are local institutional, political and funding constraints which reduce the impact of these policy interventions on air quality management. This paper illustrate the policy implementation gaps between central government policy intentions and the local government process by providing evidence of the deprioritisation of air quality management compared to the other shared priorities in the LTP process. We draw conclusions on the policy and practice of integrating air quality management into transport planning. The evidence thereby indicate the need for a policy shift from a solely localised hotspot management approach, in which the LAQM framework operates, to a more holistic management of vehicular emissions within wider spatial administrative areas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accelerating knowledge discovery through community data sharing and integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Yip, Y L

2009-01-01

To summarize current excellent research in the field of bioinformatics. Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2009. The selection process for this yearbook's section on Bioinformatics results in six excellent articles highlighting several important trends First, it can be noted that Semantic Web technology continues to play an important role in heterogeneous data integration. Novel applications also put more emphasis on its ability to make logical inferences leading to new insights and discoveries. Second, translational research, due to its complex nature, increasingly relies on collective intelligence made available through the adoption of community-defined protocols or software architectures for secure data annotation, sharing and analysis. Advances in systems biology, bio-ontologies and text-ming can also be noted. Current biomedical research gradually evolves towards an environment characterized by intensive collaboration and more sophisticated knowledge processing activities. Enabling technologies, either Semantic Web or other solutions, are expected to play an increasingly important role in generating new knowledge in the foreseeable future.

A Local Action Plan (PAL to Combat Desertification in Apulia Region: Functional Integration of Existing Territorial Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Trotta

2010-10-01

Full Text Available In 2006-2007, the Italian National Committee to Combat Drought and Desertification promoted the execution of local action plans in some of the Italian regions. The aims of these plans were: to carry out specific actions at a local scale; to promote the integration of local policies; to involve the local communities in proposing strategies to be adopted; to harmonize the procedures among institutions in charge of adopting the policies. In this framework, ENEA carried out an evaluation of existing policies and programs to be considered in implementing a local action plan to combat desertification in the Apulia region. The application of the environmental and socio-economic measures of the regional Rural Development Plan 2007-2013 (PSR seemed to be an effective tool to positively influence human activities such as agriculture, breeding, and forestry, with the purpose of preserving or improving soil characteristics and overall environmental conditions, and eventually resulting in a reduction of desertification processes. Therefore, we proposed that these measures should be taken into account and effectively integrated into the Local Action Plan of the Apulia region. Additionally, we considered the four priority sectors identified by the National Action Plan (PAN to combat drought and desertification as the guiding principles to carry out our analysis. These sectors were: Soil Protection, Sustainable Water Management, Reduction of the Impact of Productive Activities, and Territorial Equilibrium. We also included Climate Change, in consideration of the alarming and urgent role it has assumed. The desertification-prone province of Foggia was selected as a pilot area in where to evaluate the influences that PSR measures can directly or indirectly have on desertification-related factors, and identify and implement specific actions. The Provincial Coordination Territorial Plan (PTCP of Foggia provided the basic land units for this analysis, the �

Enabling collaboration on semiformal mathematical knowledge by semantic web integration

CERN Document Server

Lange, C

2011-01-01

Mathematics is becoming increasingly collaborative, but software does not sufficiently support that: Social Web applications do not currently make mathematical knowledge accessible to automated agents that have a deeper understanding of mathematical structures. Such agents exist but focus on individual research tasks, such as authoring, publishing, peer-review, or verification, instead of complex collaboration workflows. This work effectively enables their integration by bridging the document-oriented perspective of mathematical authoring and publishing, and the network perspective of threaded

Exploring Alternatives for Representing and Accessing Design Knowledge About Enterprise Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Umapathy, Karthikeyan; Purao, Sandeep

Enterprise integration refers to solutions that facilitate meaningful interactions among heterogeneous legacy applications. The scale, complexity and specificity of most enterprise integration efforts mean that design knowledge for enterprise integration has resisted codification. Important exceptions to this include: use of Business Process Models (BPM) to understand integration requirements; and Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIP), which present designers with abstract descriptions of recurring design tactics for integrating applications. The two, however, can be at odds. BPM encourages the control flow perspective; whereas EIP codifies an operational perspective. Mapping between the two to develop coherent solutions, therefore, tends to be problematic. To bridge the gap, we suggest an approach that builds on the theory of speech acts. We develop essential components of such an approach, including a re-representation of EIP as structures of speech acts, a characterization of tasks in BPM with action types, and a mapping between speech acts and action types. These components are accompanied by inference rules that produce a mapping between sets of tasks in a business process and structures of speech acts to allow reasoning on identification of appropriate EIPs for given set of tasks. We demonstrate usefulness of the proposed approach by application to industry cases.

Systematic integration of biomedical knowledge prioritizes drugs for repurposing.

Science.gov (United States)

Himmelstein, Daniel Scott; Lizee, Antoine; Hessler, Christine; Brueggeman, Leo; Chen, Sabrina L; Hadley, Dexter; Green, Ari; Khankhanian, Pouya; Baranzini, Sergio E

2017-09-22

The ability to computationally predict whether a compound treats a disease would improve the economy and success rate of drug approval. This study describes Project Rephetio to systematically model drug efficacy based on 755 existing treatments. First, we constructed Hetionet (neo4j.het.io), an integrative network encoding knowledge from millions of biomedical studies. Hetionet v1.0 consists of 47,031 nodes of 11 types and 2,250,197 relationships of 24 types. Data were integrated from 29 public resources to connect compounds, diseases, genes, anatomies, pathways, biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components, pharmacologic classes, side effects, and symptoms. Next, we identified network patterns that distinguish treatments from non-treatments. Then, we predicted the probability of treatment for 209,168 compound-disease pairs (het.io/repurpose). Our predictions validated on two external sets of treatment and provided pharmacological insights on epilepsy, suggesting they will help prioritize drug repurposing candidates. This study was entirely open and received realtime feedback from 40 community members.

Developing integrated crop knowledge networks to advance candidate gene discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassani-Pak, Keywan; Castellote, Martin; Esch, Maria; Hindle, Matthew; Lysenko, Artem; Taubert, Jan; Rawlings, Christopher

2016-12-01

The chances of raising crop productivity to enhance global food security would be greatly improved if we had a complete understanding of all the biological mechanisms that underpinned traits such as crop yield, disease resistance or nutrient and water use efficiency. With more crop genomes emerging all the time, we are nearer having the basic information, at the gene-level, to begin assembling crop gene catalogues and using data from other plant species to understand how the genes function and how their interactions govern crop development and physiology. Unfortunately, the task of creating such a complete knowledge base of gene functions, interaction networks and trait biology is technically challenging because the relevant data are dispersed in myriad databases in a variety of data formats with variable quality and coverage. In this paper we present a general approach for building genome-scale knowledge networks that provide a unified representation of heterogeneous but interconnected datasets to enable effective knowledge mining and gene discovery. We describe the datasets and outline the methods, workflows and tools that we have developed for creating and visualising these networks for the major crop species, wheat and barley. We present the global characteristics of such knowledge networks and with an example linking a seed size phenotype to a barley WRKY transcription factor orthologous to TTG2 from Arabidopsis, we illustrate the value of integrated data in biological knowledge discovery. The software we have developed (www.ondex.org) and the knowledge resources (http://knetminer.rothamsted.ac.uk) we have created are all open-source and provide a first step towards systematic and evidence-based gene discovery in order to facilitate crop improvement.

Development and application of knowledge-based subject group integration platforms:A case study of Shanghai Institute of Ceramics,CAS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yu; LIU; Jian; FU; Huijun; ZHENG; Hao; CHEN; Zhiping; YANG

2014-01-01

Purpose:According to the different requirements of research group users,we established the knowledge-based subject group integration platforms of Shanghai Institute of Ceramics,the Chinese Academy of Sciences(abbreviated as SIC CAS hereinafter),which were designed and constructed to better meet the needs of CAS research groups for their development,collaboration and communication.Design/methodology/approach:We first identified the requirements of users via preliminary investigation,and then chose CASI1 P,iLibrary and XKE technology,respectively as the building tools compatible with the major demands of users.These steps helped us complete the layout design of SIC CAS integration platforms,as well as its knowledge organization and integration.Findings:According to the need of users,we applied three types of platform construction technologies to five SIC integration platforms,and formulated standard norms for the further construction process,which could provide useful reference for a sustainable development for the extensive construction in CAS institutes.Research limitations:In order to make the SIC integration platforms more intelligent and have more functions,we need to enlarge the scale of the Platforms and upgrade the building tools for the platform construction.Practical implications:The nature of SIC sub-project integration platforms is to construct a content-sensitive environment which can embed knowledge services and knowledge applications seamlessly into scientific activities,so the Platform is expected to be a useful tool to help researchers better understand the recent development of the research field and form collaborations with their peers.Originality/value:SIC integration platforms are the only pilot construction that used 3different platform technologies in the first batch of knowledge-based subject group integration platforms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.The construction is user-centered throughout the whole process,namely,from the technology

The Importance of Attitude to Knowledge and Innovation for Performance of Manufacturing Enterprises Operating Either Locally Or Internationally

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcin Soniewicki

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Today knowledge management actions and innovation processes are very specific and complex topics. That is why this publication is focused on small and narrow aspect of these issues – their perception in only one category of entities, which are manufacturing companies. This paper analyzes and compares the attitude to knowledge management and innovation amid manufacturing enterprises operating locally only or internationally. It also checks the influence of various approaches to studied issues on creating mentioned businesses’ competitive advantage. Empirical study, in which 331 companies took part, has shown that enterprises in international process appreciate knowledge management and innovation more than their counterparts operating only on the local markets. Moreover, the research results demonstrated that knowledge and innovation appreciation by managers and employees is important for competitive advantage of every kind of manufacturing enterprises. Nevertheless, it is crucial to remember for those firms involved on foreign markets – the more a company is engaged in international operations the more attention it should pay to its knowledge and innovation processes.

Birding for and with People: Integrating Local Participation in Avian Monitoring Programs within High Biodiversity Areas in Southern Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humberto Berlanga

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Biological monitoring is a powerful tool for understanding ecological patterns and processes, implementing sound management practices, and determining wildlife conservation strategies. In Mexico, regional long-term bird monitoring has been undertaken only over the last decade. Two comprehensive programs have incorporated bird monitoring as the main tool for assessing the impact of human productive activities on birds and habitats at local and regional levels: the Integrated Ecosystem Management (IEM and the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor Mexico (CBMM. These programs are implemented in supremely important biodiverse regions in the southern and southeastern states of Mexico. Bird monitoring activities are based on the recruitment and participation of local people linked to sustainable productive projects promoted by the CBMM or IEM. Through a series of training workshops delivered by specialists, local monitors receive equipment and coordinate to become part of a large monitoring network that facilitates regional covertures. This data currently being obtained by local people will enable the mid- and long-term assessment of the impacts of sustainable human productive activities on birds and biodiversity. Community-based bird monitoring programs are a promising opportunity for enhancing scientific knowledge, improving sustainable practices, and supporting wildlife conservation in areas of high biodiversity.

Rapid assessment of insect fauna based on local knowledge: comparing ecological and ethnobiological methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Daniele Cristina de Oliveira; Ramos, Marcelo Alves; da Silva, Henrique Costa Hermenegildo; Alves, Angelo Giuseppe Chaves

2016-03-01

The rapid assessment of biodiversity making use of surveys of local knowledge has been successful for different biological taxa. However, there are no reports on the testing of such tools for sampling insect fauna. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of different ethnobiological techniques for rapid sampling of insect fauna. Field research for the conventional survey of insect fauna was conducted on a private farm (9 ° 43'38.95 "S, 37 ° 45'11.97" W) , where there was intensive cultivation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. (Moench)). The survey of local entomological knowledge was conducted among all the producers of okra living in the rural villages Pereira, Santa Luzia, and Nassau de Souza, within the Jacaré Curituba irrigated settlement scheme. The combined use of the techniques "free list" and projective interviews was analyzed, using two types of visual stimuli: stock photos and an entomological box. During the conventional survey of insect fauna, the species Bemisia tabaci biotype B, Aphis gossypii, Phenacoccus sp., Icerya purchasi and Lagria villosa were the primary pests found in the okra crop. Regarding the survey of insect pests, the results were convergent  in both techniques (conventional sampling and free list). Comparing the interview with visual stimuli (pictures) and specimen witnesses (entomological box) revealed that the latter was more effective. Techniques based on the recording and analysis of local knowledge about insects are effective for quick sampling of pest insects, but ineffective in sampling predator insects. The utilization of collected insects, infested branches, or photos of the symptoms of damage caused by pests in projective interviews is recommended.

New ways of integrating material knowledge into the design process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Højris, Anders; Nielsen, Louise Møller

2013-01-01

– based on technical performance, no longer apply. Accordingly the approach in this paper is to view information and knowledge about materials through the perspective of organizational memory and technology brokering. This paper is build upon two cases from the German based design studio: designaffairs...... libraries and thereby access to information on new material possibilities has also changed the way designers integrate knowledge about materials into the design process. This means that the traditional design process model, where the selection of materials takes place after the design of form and function...... in order to help clients to find the right material among hundreds of samples. Furthermore a number of material libraries have also been developed into online database, which provides detailed information about new material and makes the information accessible from almost everywhere. The access to material...

Local knowledge and perceptions of animal population abundances by communities adjacent to the northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gandiwa, E.

2012-01-01

Understanding animal abundances and population trends is a fundamental goal of ecology. The aim of this study was to examine local ecological knowledge (LEK) held by local people bordering the northern Gonarezhou National Park (GNP), Zimbabwe, concerning domestic and wild animal species abundances

An integrated system for interactive continuous learning of categorical knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Skočaj, Danijel; Vrečko, Alen; Mahnič, Marko; Janíček, Miroslav; Kruijff, Geert-Jan M.; Hanheide, Marc; Hawes, Nick; Wyatt, Jeremy L.; Keller, Thomas; Zhou, Kai; Zillich, Michael; Kristan, Matej

2016-09-01

This article presents an integrated robot system capable of interactive learning in dialogue with a human. Such a system needs to have several competencies and must be able to process different types of representations. In this article, we describe a collection of mechanisms that enable integration of heterogeneous competencies in a principled way. Central to our design is the creation of beliefs from visual and linguistic information, and the use of these beliefs for planning system behaviour to satisfy internal drives. The system is able to detect gaps in its knowledge and to plan and execute actions that provide information needed to fill these gaps. We propose a hierarchy of mechanisms which are capable of engaging in different kinds of learning interactions, e.g. those initiated by a tutor or by the system itself. We present the theory these mechanisms are build upon and an instantiation of this theory in the form of an integrated robot system. We demonstrate the operation of the system in the case of learning conceptual models of objects and their visual properties.

Integrating design and production planning with knowledge-based inspection planning system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbasi, Ghaleb Y.; Ketan, Hussein S.; Adil, Mazen B.

2005-01-01

In this paper an intelligent environment to integrate design and inspection earlier to the design stage. A hybrid knowledge-based approach integrating computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided inspection planning (CAIP) was developed, thereafter called computer-aided design and inspection planning (CADIP). CADIP was adopted for automated dimensional inspection planning. Critical functional features were screened based on certain attributes for part features for inspection planning application. Testing the model resulted in minimizing the number of probing vectors associated with the most important features in the inspected prismatic part, significant reduction in inspection costs and release of human labor. In totality, this tends to increase customer satisfaction as a final goal of the developed system. (author)

The Role of Research Coordination in Enhancing Integrative Research: the Co-production of Knowledge Agenda of the Global Land Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Scarpa, F. M.; Boillat, S. P.; Grove, J. M.

2015-12-01

The search for sustainability and resilience requires the integration of natural science with social science, as well as the joint production of knowledge and solutions by science and society. In this context, international science coordination initiatives, like Future Earth, have increasingly stressed the need to perform more integrated and more socially relevant research. This contribution has the objective to highlight the potential role of a research coordination initiative, the Global Land Programme (GLP), to provide guidance for more integrative research. The need to perform integrative research is particularly true for land systems, which include dynamic interactions among social and natural drivers that are often multifunctional. Thus, their governance and management is particularity complex and involve highly diverse stakeholders. A key aspect of integrative research is co-production of knowledge, understood as the interactive production of knowledge by both academics and non-academics, that leads to new forms of solutions-oriented knowledge. We relied on experiences of co-production of knowledge on land systems from the GLP network, and drove seven lessons learnt: 1) the importance of including several learning loops in the process, 2) the importance of long-term relationships, 3) the need to overcome the distinction between basic and applied science, 4) the opportunities offered by new communication technologies, 5) the need to train professionals in both breadth and depth, 6) the access to knowledge, and 7) the need to understand better the roles of scientists and decision-makers. These lessons were used to define action-research priorities for enhancing co-production of knowledge on land systems in GLP projects and working groups. As a conclusion, we argue that research coordination initiatives have the potential to provide analysis and guidance for more integrative research. This can be done by performing synthesis and self-reflection activities that

Capturing knowledge integration through collaborations: measures of the diversity and coherence in multiple proximity dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lang, F.; Rafols, I.; Hopkins, M.

2016-07-01

This paper proposes a novel approach to determine changes that occur as a result of collaborations that is intended to support knowledge integration. The approach combines and applies indicators of proximity, diversity, coherence and has potential applications in the study and evaluation of research collaborations. The scientometric literature has been exploring the topic of knowledge integration and interdisciplinarity for more than a decade (Bordons, 2004; Zitt, 2005; Rafols, 2014). The paper builds on the line of research that seeks to develop measures of knowledge integration, namely diversity and coherence (Rafols, 2014). Successful exchange and integration of knowledge through collaboration not only requires disciplinary or cognitive diversity, as previously studied in the scientometric literature (Rafols & Meyer, 2009; Rafols, 2014) but also other dimensions linked to the social, cultural background of the individuals involved. Economic geographers have developed a framework, the proximity framework (Boschma, 2005), identifying five features that may be important for collaborative learning which are: cognitive, social, geographical, institutional, and organisational proximities. The paper therefore proposes to use the diversity and coherence measures to not only look at diversity from a cognitive standpoint, but also apply it to the other proximities proposed in the Boschma framework. These indicators will capture the relationship occurring betweenindividuals taking part in the research and the categories (proximity dimensions) that they are associated to. This paper reviews and integrates concepts from economic geography with the scientometric literature on interdisciplinarity to form a conceptual framework that the paper applies to an illustrative case study. In order to apply the framework, the paper develops indicators for diversity and coherence that can be applied to each of Boschma’s five proximities. The illustrative case study looks at

Local integrated resource planning (LIRP); Planejamento integrado em ambiente de planejamento local (LIRP) - geracao, transmissao e distribuicao

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fontoura Filho, R N; Schilling, M T [ELETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Pereira, J L.R. [Juiz de Fora Univ., MG (Brazil); Aires, J C.O. [Light Servicos de Eletricidade S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

1994-12-31

This work makes a description of the current process for planning of power systems. It also presents a proposal that permit the definition of systems with homogeneity of risks, ideal to the local integrated resources planning (LIRP) , mainly, in a competition environment between electric utilities. (author) 7 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.

LOCAL COMMUNITY’S ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE SELECTION OF SHADING TREESFOR TRADITIONAL AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM (NUTMEG “DUSUNG” IN AMBON

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Messalina Lovenia Salampessy

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Local ecological knowledge is closely linked to decision-making process for planting tree. The aims of this study are to describe and explain local community’s decision-making process in the selection of shading trees on their lands according to their understanding and knowledge. This study used case study approach. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and observations. The results of the study showed that to manage traditional agroforestry, the community planted nutmeg (Myristica fragrans as the main crop species and selected the covering trees, such as walnuts (Canarium sp. and durian (Durio sp.. The reasons in selecting shading trees were as follows: the suitability of biophysical condition; supporting nutmeg growth; ease of maintenance and harvesting activities; parental inheritance; yield diversity; and ease of marketing activities. Learning from the study, the government and relevant stakeholders are expected touse local ecological knowledge to support the development of community forestry.

Exploring local knowledge and perceptions on zoonoses among pastoralists in northern and eastern Tanzania.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Ernest Mangesho

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Zoonoses account for the most commonly reported emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is limited knowledge on how pastoral communities perceive zoonoses in relation to their livelihoods, culture and their wider ecology. This study was carried out to explore local knowledge and perceptions on zoonoses among pastoralists in Tanzania.This study involved pastoralists in Ngorongoro district in northern Tanzania and Kibaha and Bagamoyo districts in eastern Tanzania. Qualitative methods of focus group discussions, participatory epidemiology and interviews were used. A total of 223 people were involved in the study. Among the pastoralists, there was no specific term in their local language that describes zoonosis. Pastoralists from northern Tanzania possessed a higher understanding on the existence of a number of zoonoses than their eastern districts' counterparts. Understanding of zoonoses could be categorized into two broad groups: a local syndromic framework, whereby specific symptoms of a particular illness in humans concurred with symptoms in animals, and the biomedical framework, where a case definition is supported by diagnostic tests. Some pastoralists understand the possibility of some infections that could cross over to humans from animals but harm from these are generally tolerated and are not considered as threats. A number of social and cultural practices aimed at maintaining specific cultural functions including social cohesion and rites of passage involve animal products, which present zoonotic risk.These findings show how zoonoses are locally understood, and how epidemiology and biomedicine are shaping pastoralists perceptions to zoonoses. Evidence is needed to understand better the true burden and impact of zoonoses in these communities. More studies are needed that seek to clarify the common understanding of zoonoses that could be used to guide effective and locally relevant interventions

Exploring local knowledge and perceptions on zoonoses among pastoralists in northern and eastern Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Mangesho, Peter Ernest; Neselle, Moses Ole; Karimuribo, Esron D; Mlangwa, James E; Queenan, Kevin; Mboera, Leonard E G; Rushton, Jonathan; Kock, Richard; Häsler, Barbara; Kiwara, Angwara; Rweyemamu, Mark

2017-02-01

Zoonoses account for the most commonly reported emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is limited knowledge on how pastoral communities perceive zoonoses in relation to their livelihoods, culture and their wider ecology. This study was carried out to explore local knowledge and perceptions on zoonoses among pastoralists in Tanzania. This study involved pastoralists in Ngorongoro district in northern Tanzania and Kibaha and Bagamoyo districts in eastern Tanzania. Qualitative methods of focus group discussions, participatory epidemiology and interviews were used. A total of 223 people were involved in the study. Among the pastoralists, there was no specific term in their local language that describes zoonosis. Pastoralists from northern Tanzania possessed a higher understanding on the existence of a number of zoonoses than their eastern districts' counterparts. Understanding of zoonoses could be categorized into two broad groups: a local syndromic framework, whereby specific symptoms of a particular illness in humans concurred with symptoms in animals, and the biomedical framework, where a case definition is supported by diagnostic tests. Some pastoralists understand the possibility of some infections that could cross over to humans from animals but harm from these are generally tolerated and are not considered as threats. A number of social and cultural practices aimed at maintaining specific cultural functions including social cohesion and rites of passage involve animal products, which present zoonotic risk. These findings show how zoonoses are locally understood, and how epidemiology and biomedicine are shaping pastoralists perceptions to zoonoses. Evidence is needed to understand better the true burden and impact of zoonoses in these communities. More studies are needed that seek to clarify the common understanding of zoonoses that could be used to guide effective and locally relevant interventions. Such studies should

Integrating stations from the North America Gravity Database into a local GPS-based land gravity survey

Science.gov (United States)

Shoberg, Thomas G.; Stoddard, Paul R.

2013-01-01

The ability to augment local gravity surveys with additional gravity stations from easily accessible national databases can greatly increase the areal coverage and spatial resolution of a survey. It is, however, necessary to integrate such data seamlessly with the local survey. One challenge to overcome in integrating data from national databases is that these data are typically of unknown quality. This study presents a procedure for the evaluation and seamless integration of gravity data of unknown quality from a national database with data from a local Global Positioning System (GPS)-based survey. The starting components include the latitude, longitude, elevation and observed gravity at each station location. Interpolated surfaces of the complete Bouguer anomaly are used as a means of quality control and comparison. The result is an integrated dataset of varying quality with many stations having GPS accuracy and other reliable stations of unknown origin, yielding a wider coverage and greater spatial resolution than either survey alone.

Highly localized distributed Brillouin scattering response in a photonic integrated circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Zarifi, Atiyeh; Stiller, Birgit; Merklein, Moritz; Li, Neuton; Vu, Khu; Choi, Duk-Yong; Ma, Pan; Madden, Stephen J.; Eggleton, Benjamin J.

2018-03-01

The interaction of optical and acoustic waves via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has recently reached on-chip platforms, which has opened new fields of applications ranging from integrated microwave photonics and on-chip narrow-linewidth lasers, to phonon-based optical delay and signal processing schemes. Since SBS is an effect that scales exponentially with interaction length, on-chip implementation on a short length scale is challenging, requiring carefully designed waveguides with optimized opto-acoustic overlap. In this work, we use the principle of Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis to locally measure the SBS spectrum with high spatial resolution of 800 μm and perform a distributed measurement of the Brillouin spectrum along a spiral waveguide in a photonic integrated circuit. This approach gives access to local opto-acoustic properties of the waveguides, including the Brillouin frequency shift and linewidth, essential information for the further development of high quality photonic-phononic waveguides for SBS applications.

Highly localized distributed Brillouin scattering response in a photonic integrated circuit

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Atiyeh Zarifi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The interaction of optical and acoustic waves via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS has recently reached on-chip platforms, which has opened new fields of applications ranging from integrated microwave photonics and on-chip narrow-linewidth lasers, to phonon-based optical delay and signal processing schemes. Since SBS is an effect that scales exponentially with interaction length, on-chip implementation on a short length scale is challenging, requiring carefully designed waveguides with optimized opto-acoustic overlap. In this work, we use the principle of Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis to locally measure the SBS spectrum with high spatial resolution of 800 μm and perform a distributed measurement of the Brillouin spectrum along a spiral waveguide in a photonic integrated circuit. This approach gives access to local opto-acoustic properties of the waveguides, including the Brillouin frequency shift and linewidth, essential information for the further development of high quality photonic-phononic waveguides for SBS applications.

RNA-protein binding motifs mining with a new hybrid deep learning based cross-domain knowledge integration approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pan, Xiaoyong; Shen, Hong Bin

2017-01-01

, their domain specific features and formats have posed significant computational challenges. One of current difficulties is that the cross-source shared common knowledge is at a higher abstraction level beyond the observed data, resulting in a low efficiency of direct integration of observed data across domains...... space using multiple layers of learning blocks, where the shared representations across different domains are integrated. To validate our iDeep method, we performed experiments on 31 large-scale CLIP-seq datasets, and our results show that by integrating multiple sources of data, the average AUC can...... be improved by 8% compared to the best single-source-based predictor; and through cross-domain knowledge integration at an abstraction level, it outperforms the state-of-the-art predictors by 6%. Besides the overall enhanced prediction performance, the convolutional neural network module embedded in i...

Integrating the Use of Interdisciplinary Learning Activity Task in Creating Students' Mathematical Knowledge

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Mahanin, Hajah Umisuzimah Haji; Shahrill, Masitah; Tan, Abby; Mahadi, Mar Aswandi

2017-01-01

This study investigated the use of interdisciplinary learning activity task to construct students' knowledge in Mathematics, specifically on the topic of scale drawing application. The learning activity task involved more than one academic discipline, which is Mathematics, English Language, Art, Geography and integrating the Brunei Darussalam…

The cultural heritage of pastoralism - local knowledge, state identity and the global perspective: the example of local breeds in Morocco.

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Ben Hounet, Y; Brisebarre, A-M; Guinand, S

2016-11-01

Over the past few decades, the heritage designation process has come to impact on the way of life of many nomadic pastoralists across the world. Since the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted in 1972, policies for the conservation of protected areas have been implemented under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), especially in countries of the South, with a varying impact on the practices and perceptions of pastoral communities. Heritage policies were further extended by the establishment of the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (the Convention was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in October 2003 and came into force in 2006) and the list of Cultural Landscapes (adoption in 1992, with the first site listed in 1993). This enthusiasm for heritage, which is felt by States and local communities alike, provides an opportunity to study the contradictions and changing perceptions of the nomadic and pastoral identity. In this context of wholesale heritage designation, it is interesting to examine how local knowledge - especially that on hardy animal breeds - is promoted and safeguarded. The authors focus on the case of Morocco, where the national association of sheep and goat breeders (ANOC) oversees breed selection and health policy for local breeds, in order to demonstrate that greater recognition of farmers' knowledge and their ability to identify hardy animals can ensure the sustainability of farms in both South and North from a socio-economic, genetic and health standpoint.

About External Geographic Information and Knowledge in Smart Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Laurinia, R.; Favetta, F.

2017-09-01

Any territory can easily be considered as an open system in which external effects can greatly influence its evolution in addition to inner dynamics. However, in practically all local authorities, their so-called geographic information or knowledge systems are bounded by the jurisdiction's limit, and therefore are closed systems. In this paper, we advocate the necessity not only to consider but also to include external influences within any GIS or GKS. Therefore, among external influences, we will consider beyond intra muros knowledge, extra muros knowledge divided in two categories, nearby neighboring knowledge, for instance located in an outer crown around the jurisdiction territory, but also farther knowledge for instance from technology watch. After having analyzed the semantics of borderlines, we suggest some element for the design of the crown and we analyze how the various components of a geographic knowledge base (objects, relations, ontologies, gazetteers, rules, etc.) can be integrated. Then some aspects regarding updating external knowledge are rapidly sketched. As a conclusion, we evoke the necessity of designing administrative protocols so that administration can negotiate the exchange of external knowledge bunches. In other words, this is an attempt to fully integrate the so-called Tobler's first law of geography.

ABOUT EXTERNAL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE IN SMART CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Laurinia

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Any territory can easily be considered as an open system in which external effects can greatly influence its evolution in addition to inner dynamics. However, in practically all local authorities, their so-called geographic information or knowledge systems are bounded by the jurisdiction’s limit, and therefore are closed systems. In this paper, we advocate the necessity not only to consider but also to include external influences within any GIS or GKS. Therefore, among external influences, we will consider beyond intra muros knowledge, extra muros knowledge divided in two categories, nearby neighboring knowledge, for instance located in an outer crown around the jurisdiction territory, but also farther knowledge for instance from technology watch. After having analyzed the semantics of borderlines, we suggest some element for the design of the crown and we analyze how the various components of a geographic knowledge base (objects, relations, ontologies, gazetteers, rules, etc. can be integrated. Then some aspects regarding updating external knowledge are rapidly sketched. As a conclusion, we evoke the necessity of designing administrative protocols so that administration can negotiate the exchange of external knowledge bunches. In other words, this is an attempt to fully integrate the so-called Tobler’s first law of geography.

Local knowledge, environmental politics, and the founding of ecology in the United States. Stephen Forbes and "The Lake as a Microcosm" (1887).

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Schneider, D W

2000-12-01

Stephen Forbes's "The Lake as a Microcosm" is one of the founding documents of the science of ecology in the United States. By tracing the connections between scientists and local fishermen underlying the research on floodplain lakes presented in "The Lake as a Microcosm," this essay shows how the birth of ecology was tied to local knowledge and the local politics of environmental transformation. Forbes and the other scientists of the Illinois Natural History Survey relied on fishermen for manual labor, expertise in catching fish, and knowledge of the natural history of the fishes. As Forbes and his colleagues worked in close contact with fishermen, they also adopted many of their political concerns over the privatization of the floodplain and became politically active in supporting their interests. The close connection between scientists and local knowledge forced the ecologists to reframe the boundaries of ecology as objective or political, pure or applied, local or scientific.

Integrating knowledge and control into hypermedia-based training environments: Experiments with HyperCLIPS

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Hill, Randall W., Jr.

1990-01-01

The issues of knowledge representation and control in hypermedia-based training environments are discussed. The main objective is to integrate the flexible presentation capability of hypermedia with a knowledge-based approach to lesson discourse management. The instructional goals and their associated concepts are represented in a knowledge representation structure called a 'concept network'. Its functional usages are many: it is used to control the navigation through a presentation space, generate tests for student evaluation, and model the student. This architecture was implemented in HyperCLIPS, a hybrid system that creates a bridge between HyperCard, a popular hypertext-like system used for building user interfaces to data bases and other applications, and CLIPS, a highly portable government-owned expert system shell.

Salers Protected Designation of Origin cheese, France. The diversity and paradox of local knowledge in geographical indications

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Bérard, Laurence

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Our case study of Salers cheese production in south-central France highlights how place-specific knowledge grounds the various networks shaping the rise of geographical indications (GI in food production. In 1961, Salers cheese producers created a “Protected Designation of Origin” (PDO. To preserve the distinctive character of their product, they opted to require use of the gerle, a traditional wooden vat, and an on-farm cheese making process. The gerle came recently under scrutiny from French governmental hygiene regulation enforcement, and the subsequent public controversy jeopardized the entire supply chain and destabilized Salers cheese-making methods. Prevailing in their efforts to protect Salers, producers established the gerle as mandatory and have since set up a governance board to ensure PDO brand integrity. Our analysis suggests that the diversity of technical choices and associated set of knowledge in Salers cheese production has paradoxically been both its strength and weakness. Local agricultural know-how forges links among participants in Salers networks, connecting cheese producers and consumers, to cattle, microbes, landscapes, wooden tools, and cheeses. Yet, diversity of local expertise creates a tension among producers who must collaborate to achieve unified standards within a PDO while resisting homogeneity. Such results contribute to discussing on PDO governance: an arena to share, compare, and unite local knowledge is critical for GI and thus for sustainable agricultural systems.Nuestro caso de estudio sobre producción de queso de Salers, en el centro-sur de Francia, ilustra cómo los saberes específicos locales explican el origen de la formación de una indicación geográfica (IG. En 1961, los productores del queso de Salers crearon una denominación de origen protegida (DOP. Para preservar el carácter distintivo de sus productos, optaron por requerir como condiciones necesarias tanto el uso de la «gerle», una

Assembly and integration of geo-scientific knowledge and arguments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gierszewki, P.; Gautschi, A.; Nguyen, T.S.; Laaksohaju, M.; Rohlig, K.J.; Peake, T.; Peltier, R.; Pitkanen, P.; Skagius Elert, K.; Sykes, J.F.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this working group was to consider the assembly and integration of geo-scientific knowledge and arguments. In an introductory presentation, K. Skagius Elert presented 'Assessment of Uncertainty and Confidence in Site Descriptive Models Experience from the On-going Site Investigation Programme in Sweden'. The detailed description of concepts and procedures established at SKB for the development of a Site Descriptive Model (SDM) provided a starting point for the discussion of the working group. The SDM components and the procedures to achieve them were used as 'references' for the discussion of comparable elements in other national programmes. The observations have been placed into two broad themes: 1. How to manage the integration? 2. How to handle uncertainties? No specific prescription was identified for either of these questions; rather a range of suggestions were noted based on experience. The appropriate solution will depend on the organisation, the site, the state of the programme, and other factors. A final observation from the working group was on the handling of evolution of the site with time. This topic incorporates aspects of both site integration and uncertainty management. Specifically, the integrated site description model (SDM) noted above represents a description of the site as it presently exists. This description takes into account the site history, but does not describe its evolution. The latter involves a number of uncertainties. This time evolution of the site can be described through Scenarios. The definition of scenarios, similar to the definition of the SDM, is an integrated and multidisciplinary process in order to ensure a self-consistent description. It will involve use of common assumptions. Since it involves the future and the associated uncertainties, it can be useful to draw on expert panels to help define the key assumptions and outlines for scenarios. (authors)

Integrating Sacred Knowledge for Conservation: Cultures and Landscapes in Southwest China

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Jianchu Xu

2005-12-01

Full Text Available China is undergoing economic growth and expansion to a free market economy at a scale and pace that are unprecedented in human history. This is placing great pressure on the country's environment and cultural diversity. This paper examines a number of case histories in China, focusing on the culturally varied and ecologically diverse southwest region of the country. We show how developments in recent Chinese history have devalued and in some cases eliminated indigenous knowledge and practices in the quest to strengthen the centralized state. Despite these changes, more than 30 ethnic minorities live in southwest China. For generations these peoples have maintained landscapes through traditional land use and cultural practices. This indigenous knowledge places a high value on protecting forests, landscapes, and water catchments while preserving biodiversity. These values are maintained through religious beliefs, hunting taboos, and the protection of sacred sites. We advocate a conservation policy for China that includes the indigenous knowledge and values needed to maintain the environment and the traditional cultures themselves. There are seminal signs that the government is beginning to support indigenous cultures in China. The Organic Law of 1998 granted villages the legal right to self-government and gave indigenous communities greater responsibility for land and resource use. Traditional and indigenous cultural products have also developed a market and an economic value within a growing tourism industry. In many cases, however, indigenous people remain isolated from major land-use and conservation decisions that are the result of centrally planned policy. Meanwhile, frequent oscillations in forest policy and land tenure insecurity since the 1950s have led to the erosion of many local institutions and the loss of indigenous knowledge. We suggest that the long-term viability of the environment requires an interactive approach that involves

Integration of Heterogeneous Information Sources into a Knowledge Resource Management System for Lifelong Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Demidova, Elena; Ternier, Stefaan; Olmedilla, Daniel; Duval, Erik; Dicerto, Michele; Stefanov, Krassen; Sacristán, Naiara

2007-01-01

Demidova, E., Ternier, S., Olmedilla, D., Duval, E., Dicerto, M., Stefanov, K., et al. (2007). Integration of Heterogeneous Information Sources into a Knowledge Resource Management System for Lifelong. TENCompetence Workshop on Service Oriented Approaches and Lifelong Competence Development

Bridging Professional Teacher Knowledge for Science and Literary Integration via Design-Based Research

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Xavier; Gallagher, Tiffany L.

2018-01-01

We offer insights for using design-based research (DBR) as a model for constructing professional development that supports curriculum and instructional knowledge regarding science and literacy integration. We spotlight experiences in the DBR process from data collected from a sample of four elementary teachers. Findings from interviews, focus…

Evidence-based decision-making 7: Knowledge translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Manns, Braden J

2015-01-01

There is a significant gap between what is known and what is implemented by key stakeholders in practice (the evidence to practice gap). The primary purpose of knowledge translation is to address this gap, bridging evidence to clinical practice. The knowledge to action cycle is one framework for knowledge translation that integrates policy-makers throughout the research cycle. The knowledge to action cycle begins with the identification of a problem (usually a gap in care provision). After identification of the problem, knowledge creation is undertaken, depicted at the center of the cycle as a funnel. Knowledge inquiry is at the wide end of the funnel, and moving down the funnel, the primary data is synthesized into knowledge products in the form of educational materials, guidelines, decision aids, or clinical pathways. The remaining components of the knowledge to action cycle refer to the action of applying the knowledge that has been created. This includes adapting knowledge to local context, assessing barriers to knowledge use, selecting, tailoring implementing interventions, monitoring knowledge use, evaluating outcomes, and sustaining knowledge use. Each of these steps is connected by bidirectional arrows and ideally involves healthcare decision-makers and key stakeholders at each transition.

Key characteristics of knowledge transfer and exchange in healthcare: integrative literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pentland, Duncan; Forsyth, Kirsty; Maciver, Donald; Walsh, Mike; Murray, Richard; Irvine, Linda; Sikora, Simon

2011-07-01

This paper presents the results of a review of literature relating to knowledge transfer and exchange in healthcare. Treatment, planning and policy decisions in contemporary nursing and healthcare should be based on sound evidence wherever possible, but research knowledge remains generally underused. Knowledge transfer and exchange initiatives aim to facilitate the accessibility, application and production of evidence and may provide solutions to this challenge. This review was conducted to help inform the design and implementation of knowledge transfer and exchange activities for a large healthcare organization. Databases: ASSIA, Business Source Premier, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Medline and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. An integrative literature review was carried out including an extensive literature search. English language systematic reviews, literature reviews, primary quantitative and qualitative papers and grey literature of high relevance evaluating, describing or discussing knowledge transfer or exchange activities in healthcare were included for review (January 1990-September 2009). Thirty-three papers were reviewed (four systematic reviews, nine literature reviews, one environmental scan, nine empirical studies and ten case studies). Robust research into knowledge transfer and exchange in healthcare is limited. Analysis of a wide range of evidence indicates a number of commonly featured characteristics but further evaluation of these activities would benefit their application in facilitating evidence-based practice in nursing. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A graphical user interface for RAId, a knowledge integrated proteomics analysis suite with accurate statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Joyce, Brendan; Lee, Danny; Rubio, Alex; Ogurtsov, Aleksey; Alves, Gelio; Yu, Yi-Kuo

2018-03-15

RAId is a software package that has been actively developed for the past 10 years for computationally and visually analyzing MS/MS data. Founded on rigorous statistical methods, RAId's core program computes accurate E-values for peptides and proteins identified during database searches. Making this robust tool readily accessible for the proteomics community by developing a graphical user interface (GUI) is our main goal here. We have constructed a graphical user interface to facilitate the use of RAId on users' local machines. Written in Java, RAId_GUI not only makes easy executions of RAId but also provides tools for data/spectra visualization, MS-product analysis, molecular isotopic distribution analysis, and graphing the retrieval versus the proportion of false discoveries. The results viewer displays and allows the users to download the analyses results. Both the knowledge-integrated organismal databases and the code package (containing source code, the graphical user interface, and a user manual) are available for download at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Yu/downloads/raid.html .

Integrating knowledge exchange and the assessment of dryland management alternatives - A learning-centered participatory approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista, Susana; Llovet, Joan; Ocampo-Melgar, Anahí; Vilagrosa, Alberto; Mayor, Ángeles G; Murias, Cristina; Vallejo, V Ramón; Orr, Barron J

2017-06-15

The adoption of sustainable land management strategies and practices that respond to current climate and human pressures requires both assessment tools that can lead to better informed decision-making and effective knowledge-exchange mechanisms that facilitate new learning and behavior change. We propose a learning-centered participatory approach that links land management assessment and knowledge exchange and integrates science-based data and stakeholder perspectives on both biophysical and socio-economic attributes. We outline a structured procedure for a transparent assessment of land management alternatives, tailored to dryland management, that is based on (1) principles of constructivism and social learning, (2) the participation of stakeholders throughout the whole assessment process, from design to implementation, and (3) the combination of site-specific indicators, identified by local stakeholders as relevant to their particular objectives and context conditions, and science-based indicators that represent ecosystem services of drylands worldwide. The proposed procedure follows a pattern of eliciting, challenging, and self-reviewing stakeholder perspectives that aims to facilitate learning. The difference between the initial baseline perspectives and the final self-reviewed stakeholder perspectives is used as a proxy of learning. We illustrate the potential of this methodology by its application to the assessment of land uses in a Mediterranean fire-prone area in East Spain. The approach may be applied to a variety of socio-ecological systems and decision-making and governance scales. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Design Re-Examined: Integrated Approach to Knowledge Creation for Sustainable Interior Design

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Young S.

2014-01-01

The article focuses on a systematic approach to the instructional framework to incorporate three aspects of sustainable design. It also aims to provide an instruction model for sustainable design stressing a collective effort to advance knowledge creation as a community. It develops a framework conjoining the concept of integrated process in…

An Integrative Model of Organizational Learning and Social Capital on Effective Knowledge Transfer and Perceived Organizational Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Jo; Lok, Peter; Hung, Richard Yu-Yuan; Fang, Shih-Chieh

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to set out to examine the relationships of organizational learning, social capital and the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and perceived organisational performance. Integrating organizational learning capability with social capital networks to shape a holistic knowledge sharing and management enterprise…

Towards guideline implementation for integrated local health policies : Evaluation of an experimental implementation strategy in regional health services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuunders, T.J.M.; Cloin, J.C.M.; van Bon, M.J.H.; Paulussen, T.G.W.M.; van Oers, J.A.M.; van de Goor, L.A.M.

2017-01-01

To enhance implementation of a Guideline for integrated local health policy, a draft implementation strategy (DIS) was developed. It was hypothesized that the DIS would be feasible and effective to enhance the use of a Guideline for integrated local health policy. To examine its feasibility and

Enhancing innovation between scientific and indigenous knowledge: pioneer NGOs in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laplante Julie

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Until recently, little attention has been paid to local innovation capacity as well as management practices and institutions developed by communities and other local actors based on their traditional knowledge. This paper doesn't focus on the results of scientific research into innovation systems, but rather on how local communities, in a network of supportive partnerships, draw knowledge for others, combine it with their own knowledge and then innovate in their local practices. Innovation, as discussed in this article, is the capacity of local stakeholders to play an active role in innovative knowledge creation in order to enhance local health practices and further environmental conservation. In this article, the innovative processes through which this capacity is created and reinforced will be defined as a process of "ethnomedicine capacity". Methods The field study undertaken by the first author took place in India, in the State of Tamil Nadu, over a period of four months in 2007. The data was collected through individual interviews and focus groups and was complemented by participant observations. Results The research highlights the innovation capacity related to ethnomedical knowledge. As seen, the integration of local and scientific knowledge is crucial to ensure the practices anchor themselves in daily practices. The networks created are clearly instrumental to enhancing the innovation capacity that allows the creation, dissemination and utilization of 'traditional' knowledge. However, these networks have evolved in very different forms and have become entities that can fit into global networks. The ways in which the social capital is enhanced at the village and network levels are thus important to understand how traditional knowledge can be used as an instrument for development and innovation. Conclusion The case study analyzed highlights examples of innovation systems in a developmental context. They demonstrate that

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers in food safety: An integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zanin, Laís Mariano; da Cunha, Diogo Thimoteo; de Rosso, Veridiana Vera; Capriles, Vanessa Dias; Stedefeldt, Elke

2017-10-01

This study presents an overview of the relationship between knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of food handlers with training in food safety, in addition to proposing reflections on the training of food handlers, considering its responsibility for food safety and health of consumers. The review was based on the integrative method. The descriptors used were: (food handler), (knowledge, attitudes and practice) and (training). Six databases were searched, 253 articles were consulted and 36 original articles were included. Fifty per cent of the articles pointed that there was no proper translation of knowledge into attitudes/practices or attitudes into practices after training. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers are important for identifying how efficient training in food safety is allowing prioritize actions in planning training. The evaluation of KAP is the first step to understand the food handler's point of view. After this evaluation other diagnostic strategies become necessary to enhance this understanding. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Optimal Audiovisual Integration in the Ventriloquism Effect But Pervasive Deficits in Unisensory Spatial Localization in Amblyopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Michael D; Goltz, Herbert C; Wong, Agnes M F

2018-01-01

Classically understood as a deficit in spatial vision, amblyopia is increasingly recognized to also impair audiovisual multisensory processing. Studies to date, however, have not determined whether the audiovisual abnormalities reflect a failure of multisensory integration, or an optimal strategy in the face of unisensory impairment. We use the ventriloquism effect and the maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) model of optimal integration to investigate integration of audiovisual spatial information in amblyopia. Participants with unilateral amblyopia (n = 14; mean age 28.8 years; 7 anisometropic, 3 strabismic, 4 mixed mechanism) and visually normal controls (n = 16, mean age 29.2 years) localized brief unimodal auditory, unimodal visual, and bimodal (audiovisual) stimuli during binocular viewing using a location discrimination task. A subset of bimodal trials involved the ventriloquism effect, an illusion in which auditory and visual stimuli originating from different locations are perceived as originating from a single location. Localization precision and bias were determined by psychometric curve fitting, and the observed parameters were compared with predictions from the MLE model. Spatial localization precision was significantly reduced in the amblyopia group compared with the control group for unimodal visual, unimodal auditory, and bimodal stimuli. Analyses of localization precision and bias for bimodal stimuli showed no significant deviations from the MLE model in either the amblyopia group or the control group. Despite pervasive deficits in localization precision for visual, auditory, and audiovisual stimuli, audiovisual integration remains intact and optimal in unilateral amblyopia.

[Knowledge produced from the outcomes of the "Nursing Outcomes Classification--NOC": integrative review].

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Natália Chantal Magalhães; de Souza Oliveira, Ana Railka; de Carvalho, Emília Campos

2015-12-01

To identify the knowledge produced from the outcomes of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC). A literature review using the integrative databases: Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences (LILACS), US National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Scopus Info Site (SCOPUS), during the months of August and September 2014. The review consisted of 21 articles that addressed different issues: Translation and Cultural adaptation (4.77%); Applicability in clinical practice (33.33%); and, Validation (63.90%). Analysis of these articles showed that the knowledge produced from the Nursing Outcomes Classification includes translation and cultural adaptation, evaluation of applicability and validation of its items. Considering the continuous evolution of this classification, periodic reviews should be carried out to identify the knowledge, use and effects of the NOC.

Learning and inference using complex generative models in a spatial localization task.

Science.gov (United States)

Bejjanki, Vikranth R; Knill, David C; Aslin, Richard N

2016-01-01

A large body of research has established that, under relatively simple task conditions, human observers integrate uncertain sensory information with learned prior knowledge in an approximately Bayes-optimal manner. However, in many natural tasks, observers must perform this sensory-plus-prior integration when the underlying generative model of the environment consists of multiple causes. Here we ask if the Bayes-optimal integration seen with simple tasks also applies to such natural tasks when the generative model is more complex, or whether observers rely instead on a less efficient set of heuristics that approximate ideal performance. Participants localized a "hidden" target whose position on a touch screen was sampled from a location-contingent bimodal generative model with different variances around each mode. Over repeated exposure to this task, participants learned the a priori locations of the target (i.e., the bimodal generative model), and integrated this learned knowledge with uncertain sensory information on a trial-by-trial basis in a manner consistent with the predictions of Bayes-optimal behavior. In particular, participants rapidly learned the locations of the two modes of the generative model, but the relative variances of the modes were learned much more slowly. Taken together, our results suggest that human performance in a more complex localization task, which requires the integration of sensory information with learned knowledge of a bimodal generative model, is consistent with the predictions of Bayes-optimal behavior, but involves a much longer time-course than in simpler tasks.

Maintaining a Local Data Integration System in Support of Weather Forecast Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Leela R.; Blottman, Peter F.; Sharp, David W.; Hoeth, Brian

2010-01-01

Since 2000, both the National Weather Service in Melbourne, FL (NWS MLB) and the Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX have used a local data integration system (LDIS) as part of their forecast and warning operations. The original LDIS was developed by NASA's Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU; Bauman et ai, 2004) in 1998 (Manobianco and Case 1998) and has undergone subsequent improvements. Each has benefited from three-dimensional (3-D) analyses that are delivered to forecasters every 15 minutes across the peninsula of Florida. The intent is to generate products that enhance short-range weather forecasts issued in support of NWS MLB and SMG operational requirements within East Central Florida. The current LDIS uses the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) Data Analysis System (ADAS) package as its core, which integrates a wide variety of national, regional, and local observational data sets. It assimilates all available real-time data within its domain and is run at a finer spatial and temporal resolution than current national- or regional-scale analysis packages. As such, it provides local forecasters with a more comprehensive understanding of evolving fine-scale weather features

Diversity, local knowledge and use of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) in the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacan, Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Stingless bees were significant resources managed by Mesoamerican peoples during pre-Columbian times and remain important in particular areas. Our study aimed at inventorying stingless bees’ species, traditional knowledge and forms of use and management of them at the municipality of Nocupetaro, Michoacán, Mexico, a region of the Balsas River Basin. Methods We inventoried the stingless bees of the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacán, México, through extensive collecting of bee specimens in different vegetation types. We then conducted semi-structured interviews to local experts in order to document their knowledge and management techniques of stingless bees’ species. Results We identified a total of eight stingless bees’ species in the study area as well as three additional unidentified taxa recognized by people through the local names. Our inventory included one new record of species for the region (Lestrimelitta chamelensis Ayala, 1999). The taxa identified are all used by local people. Scaptotrigona hellwegeri Friese, 1900; Melipona fasciata Latreille, 1811; Frieseomelitta nigra Cresson, 1878 and Geotrigona acapulconis Strand, 1919 are particularly valued as food (honey), medicinal (honey and pollen), and material for handcrafts (wax). All species recorded are wild and their products are obtained through gathering. On average, local experts were able to collect 4 nests of stingless bees per year obtaining on average 6 L of honey and 4 Kg of wax but some came to collect up 10–12 hives per year (18 L of honey and 24 Kg of wax). Conclusions Local knowledge about use, management and ecological issues on stingless bees is persistent and deep in the study area. Information about this group of bees is progressively scarcer in Mexico and significant effort should be done from ethnobiological and ecological perspectives in order to complement the national inventory of bee resources and traditional knowledge and management of them. PMID:24903644

Diversity, local knowledge and use of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) in the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacan, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-González, Alejandro; Camou-Guerrero, Andrés; Reyes-Salas, Octavio; Argueta, Arturo; Casas, Alejandro

2014-06-05

Stingless bees were significant resources managed by Mesoamerican peoples during pre-Columbian times and remain important in particular areas. Our study aimed at inventorying stingless bees' species, traditional knowledge and forms of use and management of them at the municipality of Nocupetaro, Michoacán, Mexico, a region of the Balsas River Basin. We inventoried the stingless bees of the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacán, México, through extensive collecting of bee specimens in different vegetation types. We then conducted semi-structured interviews to local experts in order to document their knowledge and management techniques of stingless bees' species. We identified a total of eight stingless bees' species in the study area as well as three additional unidentified taxa recognized by people through the local names. Our inventory included one new record of species for the region (Lestrimelitta chamelensis Ayala, 1999). The taxa identified are all used by local people. Scaptotrigona hellwegeri Friese, 1900; Melipona fasciata Latreille, 1811; Frieseomelitta nigra Cresson, 1878 and Geotrigona acapulconis Strand, 1919 are particularly valued as food (honey), medicinal (honey and pollen), and material for handcrafts (wax). All species recorded are wild and their products are obtained through gathering. On average, local experts were able to collect 4 nests of stingless bees per year obtaining on average 6 L of honey and 4 Kg of wax but some came to collect up 10-12 hives per year (18 L of honey and 24 Kg of wax). Local knowledge about use, management and ecological issues on stingless bees is persistent and deep in the study area. Information about this group of bees is progressively scarcer in Mexico and significant effort should be done from ethnobiological and ecological perspectives in order to complement the national inventory of bee resources and traditional knowledge and management of them.

Relational knowledge leadership and local economic development

OpenAIRE

Horlings, Lummina; Collinge, Chris; Gibney, John

2017-01-01

This paper concerns the role of spatial leadership in the development of the knowledge-based economy. It is argued within academic and practitioner circles that leadership of knowledge networks requires a particular non-hierarchical style that is required to establish an ambience conducive to networking and knowledge sharing across boundaries. In this paper, we explore this hypothesis at both theoretical and empirical levels. Theoretically, we propose a conceptualization of relational knowled...

Locally Motivated GLOBE Investigations - A Key to Success

Science.gov (United States)

Washburne, J. C.; Geery, W.

2003-12-01

The GLOBE program was set up to help students make a core set of environmental observations at or near their schools, report their data through the internet to share with other students and scientists, analyze their data both locally and globally, and use this knowledge to form a better understanding of their environment. While the GLOBE program has been successful promoting more meaningful data collection, many of the tools and much of the infrastructure available to schools to synthesize their observations are underused. Schools that integrate GLOBE protocols with locally motivated investigations are more likely to implement the higher-order analysis and synthesis components of the program. Indicators of a successful observational program are things like measurement persistence, high data quality, and regular data. Participation in community forums and student-based research projects are evidence of a successful integrated program. A locally motivated issue allows a school to mold their GLOBE investigations around a multi-faceted question that they have first-hand knowledge of, that is both relevant and engaging to their students, and that can be supported by local expertise. In contrast, many GLOBE investigations are designed around abstract, non-site specific, narrowly focused and externally analyzed questions that limit local involvement and motivation. The main focus of this presentation is a few case histories of successful local investigations that incorporated GLOBE soil and air temperature data-logger measurements. The main example is drawn from Mr. Geery's fifth grade class investigation of why temperature differences exist between a local river bottom area and the school, which is located several kilometers away and 100 meters higher.

Eliciting local spatial knowledge for community - based disaster risk management : working with Cybertracker in Georgian Caucasus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spanu, V.; McCall, M.K.

2013-01-01

CyberTracker (CT) participatory field data collection software is used as an element of Participatory GIS for acquiring, geo-referencing, storing and transferring local spatial knowledge. It has been developed initially for animal tracking, ecological surveys and conservation management activities,

A multi-process model of self-regulation: influences of mindfulness, integrative self-knowledge and self-control in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Nima; Watson, P J; Farhadi, Mehran; Chen, Zhuo

2014-04-01

Self-regulation presumably rests upon multiple processes that include an awareness of ongoing self-experience, enduring self-knowledge and self-control. The present investigation tested this multi-process model using the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Integrative Self-Knowledge and Brief Self-Control Scales. Using a sample of 1162 Iranian university students, we confirmed the five-factor structure of the FFMQ in Iran and documented its factorial invariance across males and females. Self-regulatory variables correlated negatively with Perceived Stress, Depression, and Anxiety and positively with Self-Esteem and Satisfaction with Life. Partial mediation effects confirmed that self-regulatory measures ameliorated the disturbing effects of Perceived Stress. Integrative Self-Knowledge and Self-Control interacted to partially mediate the association of Perceived Stress with lower levels of Satisfaction with Life. Integrative Self-Knowledge, alone or in interaction with Self-Control, was the only self-regulation variable to display the expected mediation of Perceived Stress associations with all other measures. Self-Control failed to be implicated in self-regulation only in the mediation of Anxiety. These data confirmed the need to further examine this multi-process model of self-regulation. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

OECD/NEA data bank scientific and integral experiments databases in support of knowledge preservation and transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sartori, E.; Kodeli, I.; Mompean, F.J.; Briggs, J.B.; Gado, J.; Hasegawa, A.; D'hondt, P.; Wiesenack, W.; Zaetta, A.

2004-01-01

The OECD/Nuclear Energy Data Bank was established by its member countries as an institution to allow effective sharing of knowledge and its basic underlying information and data in key areas of nuclear science and technology. The activities as regards preserving and transferring knowledge consist of the: 1) Acquisition of basic nuclear data, computer codes and experimental system data needed over a wide range of nuclear and radiation applications; 2) Independent verification and validation of these data using quality assurance methods, adding value through international benchmark exercises, workshops and meetings and by issuing relevant reports with conclusions and recommendations, as well as by organising training courses to ensure their qualified and competent use; 3) Dissemination of the different products to authorised establishments in member countries and collecting and integrating user feedback. Of particular importance has been the establishment of basic and integral experiments databases and the methodology developed with the aim of knowledge preservation and transfer. Databases established thus far include: 1) IRPhE - International Reactor Physics Experimental Benchmarks Evaluations, 2) SINBAD - a radiation shielding experiments database (nuclear reactors, fusion neutronics and accelerators), 3) IFPE - International Fuel Performance Benchmark Experiments Database, 4) TDB - The Thermochemical Database Project, 5) ICSBE - International Nuclear Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluations, 6) CCVM - CSNI Code Validation Matrix of Thermal-hydraulic Codes for LWR LOCA and Transients. This paper will concentrate on knowledge preservation and transfer concepts and methods related to some of the integral experiments and TDB. (author)

Knowledge management in local government: The case of Stellenbosch Municipality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shamin Gaffoor

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Knowledge management (KM was a well-founded management approach that held significant benefits for public sector organisations. KM as a management philosophy had an impact on various components of an organisation and it could therefore significantly advance organisational efficiency. The successful implementation of KM initiatives had to be ensured because, different organisational processes and departments had to collaborate and functional silos had to be eliminated. KM required long-term commitment and dedication from all organisational members. Furthermore, there were certain knowledge management enablers in an organisation that needed to be developed and that were necessary for the achievement of organisational effectiveness. These enablers were the organisational culture, human resources, information technology, organisational structure and, the organisation’s strategy and leadership. This article assessed each of these enablers and how they impacted on an organisation’s KM efforts. Stellenbosch Municipality was used as a case in point. The article further examined how local governments were able to effectively implement KM practices as strategic tools used to achieve service delivery and operational goals. The article concluded with a number of recommended strategies, (1 to develop the KM enablers that were present in organisations and (2 to aid the implementation of successful organisational KM initiatives.

Position of the American Dietetic Association: local support for nutrition integrity in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergman, Ethan A; Gordon, Ruth W

2010-08-01

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) that schools and communities have a shared responsibility to provide students with access to high-quality, affordable, nutritious foods and beverages. School-based nutrition services, including the provision of meals through the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, are an integral part of the total education program. Strong wellness policies promote environments that enhance nutrition integrity and help students to develop lifelong healthy behaviors. ADA actively supported the 2004 and proposed 2010 Child Nutrition reauthorization which determines school nutrition policy. ADA believes that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans should serve as the foundation for all food and nutrition assistance programs and should apply to all foods and beverages sold or served to students during the school day. Local wellness policies are mandated by federal legislation for all school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program. These policies support nutrition integrity,including a healthy school environment. Nutrition integrity also requires coordinating nutrition education and promotion and funding research on program outcomes. Registered dietitians and dietetic technicians, registered, and other credentialed staff, are essential for nutrition integrity in schools to perform in policy-making, management, education, and community building roles. A healthy school environment can be achieved through adequate funding of school meals programs and through implementation and evaluation of strong local wellness policies.

Integrating Multiple On-line Knowledge Bases for Disease-Lab Test Relation Extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yaoyun; Soysal, Ergin; Moon, Sungrim; Wang, Jingqi; Tao, Cui; Xu, Hua

2015-01-01

A computable knowledge base containing relations between diseases and lab tests would be a great resource for many biomedical informatics applications. This paper describes our initial step towards establishing a comprehensive knowledge base of disease and lab tests relations utilizing three public on-line resources. LabTestsOnline, MedlinePlus and Wikipedia are integrated to create a freely available, computable disease-lab test knowledgebase. Disease and lab test concepts are identified using MetaMap and relations between diseases and lab tests are determined based on source-specific rules. Experimental results demonstrate a high precision for relation extraction, with Wikipedia achieving the highest precision of 87%. Combining the three sources reached a recall of 51.40%, when compared with a subset of disease-lab test relations extracted from a reference book. Moreover, we found additional disease-lab test relations from on-line resources, indicating they are complementary to existing reference books for building a comprehensive disease and lab test relation knowledge base.

Development of engineering program for integrity evaluation of pipes with local wall thinned defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Chi Yong; Lee, Sung Ho; Kim, Tae Ryong; Park, Sang Kyu

2008-01-01

Integrity evaluation of pipes with local wall thinning by erosion and corrosion is increasingly important in maintenance of wall thinned carbon steel pipes in nuclear power plants. Though a few program for integrity assessment of wall thinned pipes have been developed in domestic nuclear field, however those are limited to straight pipes and methodology proposed in ASME Sec.XI Code Case N-597. Recently, the engineering program for integrity evaluation of pipes with all kinds of local wall defects such as straight, elbow, reducer and branch pipes was developed successfully. The program was designated as PiTEP (Pipe Thinning Evaluation Program), which name was registered as a trademark in the Korea Intellectual Property Office. A developed program is carried out by sequential step of four integrity evaluation methodologies, which are composed of construction code, code case N-597, its engineering method and two developed owner evaluation method. As PiTEP program will be performed through GUI (Graphic User Interface) with user's familiarity, it would be conveniently used by plant engineers with only measured thickness data, basic operation conditions and pipe data

Knowledge and perspectives of female genital cutting among the local religious leaders in Erbil governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Hamdia M; Kareem, Mosleh S; Shabila, Nazar P; Mzori, Barzhang Q

2018-03-07

Religious leaders are one of the key actors in the issue of female genital cutting (FGC) due to the influential position they have in the community and the frequent association of FGC with the religion. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perspectives of the local religious leaders in Erbil governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan Region about different aspects of FGC. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of 29 local religious leaders. A semi-structured questionnaire was used that included questions about their knowledge, understanding, and perspectives on different aspects of FGC such as the reasons for practicing it, their contact and communication with the community regarding the practice and perspectives about banning the practice by law. Participants believed that FGC is useful for reducing or regulating the sexual desire of women to prevent adultery and engagement in pre and extramarital sexual relations and to enhance hygiene of women. They indicated that there is no any risk in doing FGC if there is no excessive cut. Most participants indicated that FGC is attributed to the religion and some considered it a tradition mixed with the religion. People rarely ask the advice of the religious leaders regarding FGC, but they frequently complain about the effects of the practice. Participants did not support having a law to ban FGC either because they thought it would be against the religion's advice on FGC or it will not work. The local religious leaders lack adequate knowledge about different aspects of FGC particularly the health consequences. There are different and disputing viewpoints about the reasons for practicing FGC, and there is poor support for having a law banning the practice. There is an essential need for enhancing the knowledge of the local religious leaders regarding FGC and its adverse effects on the women's health.

An integrated knowledge-based and optimization tool for the sustainable selection of wastewater treatment process concepts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Castillo, A.; Cheali, Peam; Gómez, V.

2016-01-01

The increasing demand on wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has involved an interest in improving the alternative treatment selection process. In this study, an integrated framework including an intelligent knowledge-based system and superstructure-based optimization has been developed and applied...... to a real case study. Hence, a multi-criteria analysis together with mathematical models is applied to generate a ranked short-list of feasible treatments for three different scenarios. Finally, the uncertainty analysis performed allows for increasing the quality and robustness of the decisions considering...... benefit and synergy is achieved when both tools are integrated because expert knowledge and expertise are considered together with mathematical models to select the most appropriate treatment alternative...

Local knowledge production, transmission, and the importance of village leaders in a network of Tibetan pastoralists coping with environmental change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly A. Hopping

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Changing climate, social institutions, and natural resource management policies are reshaping the dynamics of social-ecological systems globally, with subsistence-based communities likely to be among the most vulnerable to the impacts of global change. These communities' local ecological knowledge is increasingly recognized as a source of adaptive capacity for them as well as a crucial source of information to be incorporated into scientific understanding and policy making. We interviewed Tibetan pastoralists about their observations of environmental changes, their interpretations of the causes of these changes, and the ways in which they acquire and transmit this knowledge. We found that community members tended to agree that changing climate is driving undesirable trends in grassland and livestock health, and some also viewed changing management practices as compounding the impacts of climate change. However, those nominated by their peers as experts on traditional, pastoral knowledge observed fewer changes than did a more heterogeneous group of people who reported more ways in which the environment is changing. Herders mostly discussed these changes among themselves and particularly with village leaders, yet people who discussed environmental changes together did not necessarily hold the same knowledge of them. These results indicate that members of the community are transferring knowledge of environmental change primarily as a means for seeking adaptive solutions to it, rather than for learning from others, and that local leaders can serve as critical brokers of knowledge transfer within and beyond their communities. This highlights not only the interconnectedness of knowledge, practice, and power, but also points toward the important role that local governance can have in helping communities cope with the impacts of global change.

Experimental Verification of a Vehicle Localization based on Moving Horizon Estimation Integrating LRS and Odometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakaeta, Kuniyuki; Nonaka, Kenichiro; Sekiguchi, Kazuma

2016-01-01

Localization is an important function for the robots to complete various tasks. For localization, both internal and external sensors are used generally. The odometry is widely used as the method based on the internal sensors, but it suffers from cumulative errors. In the method using the laser range sensor (LRS) which is a kind of external sensor, the estimation accuracy is affected by the number of available measurement data. In our previous study, we applied moving horizon estimation (MHE) to the vehicle localization for integrating the LRS measurement data and the odometry information where the weightings of them are balanced relatively adapting to the number of the available LRS measurement data. In this paper, the effectiveness of the proposed localization method is verified through both numerical simulations and experiments using a 1/10 scale vehicle. The verification is conducted in the situations where the vehicle position cannot be localized uniquely on a certain direction using the LRS measurement data only. We achieve accurate localization even in such a situation by integrating the odometry and LRS based on MHE. We also show the superiority of the method through comparisons with a method using extended Kalman filter (EKF). (paper)

Knowledge-based and integrated monitoring and diagnosis in autonomous power systems

Science.gov (United States)

Momoh, J. A.; Zhang, Z. Z.

1990-01-01

A new technique of knowledge-based and integrated monitoring and diagnosis (KBIMD) to deal with abnormalities and incipient or potential failures in autonomous power systems is presented. The KBIMD conception is discussed as a new function of autonomous power system automation. Available diagnostic modelling, system structure, principles and strategies are suggested. In order to verify the feasibility of the KBIMD, a preliminary prototype expert system is designed to simulate the KBIMD function in a main electric network of the autonomous power system.

Knowledge produced from the outcomes of the "Nursing Outcomes Classification - NOC": integrative review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natália Chantal Magalhães da Silva

Full Text Available Objective: To identify the knowledge produced from the outcomes of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC. Method: A literature review using the integrative databases: Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences (LILACS, US National Library of Medicine (PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL and Scopus Info Site (SCOPUS, during the months of August and September 2014. Results: The review consisted of 21 articles that addressed different issues: Translation and Cultural adaptation (4.77%; Applicability in clinical practice (33.33%; and, Validation (63.90%. Analysis of these articles showed that the knowledge produced from the Nursing Outcomes Classification includes translation and cultural adaptation, evaluation of applicability and validation of its items. Conclusion: Considering the continuous evolution of this classification, periodic reviews should be carried out to identify the knowledge, use and effects of the NOC.

The overlooked knowledge: exploring knowledge circulation in the scaling up of Local Innovation: the case of beehive construction and queen replacement in Enebsie District, Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Getnet, A.

2008-01-01

The study here is set out to explore the facilitating and restraining factors for knowledge circulation in the scaling up of local innovation taking beehive and queen replacement innovation as case of the study in Enebsie district, Amhara region, Ethiopia. Appreciating farmers’ innovations and

Infrared and visible images registration with adaptable local-global feature integration for rail inspection

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Chaoqing; Tian, Gui Yun; Chen, Xiaotian; Wu, Jianbo; Li, Kongjing; Meng, Hongying

2017-12-01

Active thermography provides infrared images that contain sub-surface defect information, while visible images only reveal surface information. Mapping infrared information to visible images offers more comprehensive visualization for decision-making in rail inspection. However, the common information for registration is limited due to different modalities in both local and global level. For example, rail track which has low temperature contrast reveals rich details in visible images, but turns blurry in the infrared counterparts. This paper proposes a registration algorithm called Edge-Guided Speeded-Up-Robust-Features (EG-SURF) to address this issue. Rather than sequentially integrating local and global information in matching stage which suffered from buckets effect, this algorithm adaptively integrates local and global information into a descriptor to gather more common information before matching. This adaptability consists of two facets, an adaptable weighting factor between local and global information, and an adaptable main direction accuracy. The local information is extracted using SURF while the global information is represented by shape context from edges. Meanwhile, in shape context generation process, edges are weighted according to local scale and decomposed into bins using a vector decomposition manner to provide more accurate descriptor. The proposed algorithm is qualitatively and quantitatively validated using eddy current pulsed thermography scene in the experiments. In comparison with other algorithms, better performance has been achieved.

Management continuity in local health networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mylaine Breton

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Patients increasingly receive care from multiple providers in a variety of settings. They expect management continuity that crosses boundaries and bridges gaps in the healthcare system. To our knowledge, little research has been done to assess coordination across organizational and professional boundaries from the patients' perspective. Our objective was to assess whether greater local health network integration is associated with management continuity as perceived by patients. Method: We used the data from a research project on the development and validation of a generic and comprehensive continuity measurement instrument that can be applied to a variety of patient conditions and settings. We used the results of a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2009 with 256 patients in two local health networks in Quebec, Canada. We compared four aspects of management continuity between two contrasting network types (highly integrated vs. poorly integrated. Results: The scores obtained in the highly integrated network are better than those of the poorly integrated network on all dimensions of management continuity (coordinator role, role clarity and coordination between clinics, and information gaps between providers except for experience of care plan. Conclusion: Some aspects of care coordination among professionals and organizations are noticed by patients and may be valid indicators to assess care coordination.

Knowledge of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Effects of age, locality, occupation, media and sports participation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2015-09-01

Results: Misconceptions about TBI were reported by participants, irrespective of gender, locality, occupation, or history of sports participation. There were no significant differences in knowledge scores across these demographic groups. In particular, healthcare and education workers did not score any higher than other occupations. At least 40% of respondents answered either incorrectly or “I don’t know” on items related to gender differences, the utility of neuroimaging, and patient insight into their impairments. For those in non-medical, professional occupations, the older they were the less they knew about TBI (r = -.299, p = 0.009. In contrast, a positive correlation (r = 0.268, p = 0.018 was found between age and TBI knowledge for workers in healthcare or education. Conclusions: Misconceptions about TBI are present in Australia and are consistent across genders, localities, occupations and sport participation groups. A concern is that risk for misconceptions is not lower in healthcare or education professions. This suggests that professional development for groups most likely to be the frontline referral resources and supports for head injured children and adults may require further training.

Integrated multi-sensor fusion for mapping and localization in outdoor environments for mobile robots

Science.gov (United States)

Emter, Thomas; Petereit, Janko

2014-05-01

An integrated multi-sensor fusion framework for localization and mapping for autonomous navigation in unstructured outdoor environments based on extended Kalman filters (EKF) is presented. The sensors for localization include an inertial measurement unit, a GPS, a fiber optic gyroscope, and wheel odometry. Additionally a 3D LIDAR is used for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). A 3D map is built while concurrently a localization in a so far established 2D map is estimated with the current scan of the LIDAR. Despite of longer run-time of the SLAM algorithm compared to the EKF update, a high update rate is still guaranteed by sophisticatedly joining and synchronizing two parallel localization estimators.

Knowledge that Acts: Evaluating the Outcomes of a Knowledge Brokering Intervention in Western Australia's Ningaloo Region

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Kelly; Boschetti, Fabio; Fulton, Elizabeth; Horwitz, Pierre; Jones, Tod; Scherrer, Pascal; Syme, Geoff

2017-11-01

Knowledge exchange involves a suite of strategies used to bridge the divides between research, policy and practice. The literature is increasingly focused on the notion that knowledge generated by research is more useful when there is significant interaction and knowledge sharing between researchers and research recipients (i.e., stakeholders). This is exemplified by increasing calls for the use of knowledge brokers to facilitate interaction and flow of information between scientists and stakeholder groups, and the integration of scientific and local knowledge. However, most of the environmental management literature focuses on explicit forms of knowledge, leaving unmeasured the tacit relational and reflective forms of knowledge that lead people to change their behaviour. In addition, despite the high transaction costs of knowledge brokering and related stakeholder engagement, there is little research on its effectiveness. We apply Park's Manag Learn 30(2), 141-157 (1999); Knowledge and Participatory Research, London: SAGE Publications (2006) tri-partite knowledge typology as a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of knowledge brokering in the context of a large multi-agency research programme in Australia's Ningaloo coastal region, and for testing the assumption that higher levels of interaction between scientists and stakeholders lead to improved knowledge exchange. While the knowledge brokering intervention substantively increased relational networks between scientists and stakeholders, it did not generate anticipated increases in stakeholder knowledge or research application, indicating that more prolonged stakeholder engagement was required, and/or that there was a flaw in the assumptions underpinning our conceptual framework.

Integrating Globality and Locality for Robust Representation Based Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The representation based classification method (RBCM has shown huge potential for face recognition since it first emerged. Linear regression classification (LRC method and collaborative representation classification (CRC method are two well-known RBCMs. LRC and CRC exploit training samples of each class and all the training samples to represent the testing sample, respectively, and subsequently conduct classification on the basis of the representation residual. LRC method can be viewed as a “locality representation” method because it just uses the training samples of each class to represent the testing sample and it cannot embody the effectiveness of the “globality representation.” On the contrary, it seems that CRC method cannot own the benefit of locality of the general RBCM. Thus we propose to integrate CRC and LRC to perform more robust representation based classification. The experimental results on benchmark face databases substantially demonstrate that the proposed method achieves high classification accuracy.

Seahorses in focus: local ecological knowledge of seahorse-watching operators in a tropical estuary

OpenAIRE

Ternes, Maria L. F.; Gerhardinger, Leopoldo C.; Schiavetti, Alexandre

2016-01-01

Background Seahorses are endangered teleost fishes under increasing human pressures worldwide. In Brazil, marine conservationists and policy-makers are thus often skeptical about the viability of sustainable human-seahorse interactions. This study focuses on local ecological knowledge on seahorses and the implications of their non-lethal touristic use by a coastal community in northeastern Brazil. Community-based seahorse-watching activities have been carried out in Maraca?pe village since 19...

Relational knowledge leadership and local economic development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Horlings, Lummina; Collinge, Chris; Gibney, John

2017-01-01

This paper concerns the role of spatial leadership in the development of the knowledge-based economy. It is argued within academic and practitioner circles that leadership of knowledge networks requires a particular non-hierarchical style that is required to establish an ambience conducive to

Food recognition and recipe analysis: integrating visual content, context and external knowledge

OpenAIRE

Herranz, Luis; Min, Weiqing; Jiang, Shuqiang

2018-01-01

The central role of food in our individual and social life, combined with recent technological advances, has motivated a growing interest in applications that help to better monitor dietary habits as well as the exploration and retrieval of food-related information. We review how visual content, context and external knowledge can be integrated effectively into food-oriented applications, with special focus on recipe analysis and retrieval, food recommendation, and the restaurant context as em...

Integrating ergonomics knowledge into business-driven design projects: The shaping of resource constraints in engineering consultancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall-Andersen, Lene Bjerg; Neumann, Patrick; Broberg, Ole

2016-10-17

The integration of ergonomics knowledge into engineering projects leads to both healthier and more efficient workplaces. There is a lack of knowledge about integrating ergonomic knowledge into the design practice in engineering consultancies. This study explores how organizational resources can pose constraints for the integration of ergonomics knowledge into engineering design projects in a business-driven setting, and how ergonomists cope with these resource constraints. An exploratory case study in an engineering consultancy was conducted. A total of 27 participants were interviewed. Data were collected applying semi-structured interviews, observations, and documentary studies. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and categorized into themes. From the analysis five overall themes emerged as major constituents of resource constraints: 1) maximizing project revenue, 2) payment for ergonomics services, 3) value of ergonomic services, 4) role of the client, and 5) coping strategies to overcome resource constraints. We hypothesize that resource constraints were shaped due to sub-optimization of costs in design projects. The economical contribution of ergonomics measures was not evaluated in the entire life cycle of a designed workplace. Coping strategies included teaming up with engineering designers in the sales process or creating an alliance with ergonomists in the client organization.

Ontology-based data integration from heterogeneous urban systems : A knowledge representation framework for smart cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Psyllidis, A.

2015-01-01

This paper presents a novel knowledge representation framework for smart city planning and management that enables the semantic integration of heterogeneous urban data from diverse sources. Currently, the combination of information across city agencies is cumbersome, as the increasingly available

An Integrated Intervention for Increasing Clinical Nurses’ Knowledge of HIV/AIDS-Related Occupational Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liping He

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Approximately 35 new HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV cases and at least 1000 serious infections are transmitted annually to health care workers. In China, HIV prevalence is increasing and nursing personnel are encountering these individuals more than in the past. Contaminated needle-stick injuries represent a significant occupational burden for nurses. Evidence suggests that nurses in China may not fully understand HIV/AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS and HIV-related occupational safety. At this time, universal protection precautions are not strictly implemented in Chinese hospitals. Lack of training may place nurses at risk for occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of integrated interventions on nurses’ knowledge improvement about reducing the risk of occupationally acquired HIV infection. Methods: We audited integrated interventions using 300 questionnaires collected from nurses at the Affiliated Hospital of Xiangnan University, a public polyclinic in Hunan Province. The intervention studied was multifaceted and included appropriate and targeted training content for hospital, department and individual levels. After three months of occupational safety integrated interventions, 234 participants who completed the program were assessed. Results: Of the subjects studied, 94.3% (283/300 were injured one or more times by medical sharp instruments or splashed by body fluids in the last year and 95.3% considered their risk of occupational exposure high or very high. After the intervention, awareness of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge improved significantly (χ2 = 86.34, p = 0.00, and correct answers increased from 67.9% to 82.34%. Correct answers regarding risk perception were significantly different between pre-test (54.4% and post-test (66.6% (χ2 = 73.2, p = 0.00. When coming into contact with patient body fluids and blood only 24.0% of subjects used gloves regularly

Approaching multidimensional forms of knowledge through Personal Meaning Mapping in science integrating teaching outside the classroom

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartmeyer, Rikke; Bolling, Mads; Bentsen, Peter

2017-01-01

knowledge dimensions is important, especially in science teaching outside the classroom, where “hands-on” approaches and experiments are often part of teaching and require procedural knowledge, among other things. Therefore, this study investigates PMM as a method for exploring specific knowledge dimensions......Current research points to Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM) as a method useful in investigating students’ prior and current science knowledge. However, studies investigating PMM as a method for exploring specific knowledge dimensions are lacking. Ensuring that students are able to access specific...... in formal science education integrating teaching outside the classroom. We applied a case study design involving two schools and four sixth-grade classes. Data were collected from six students in each class who constructed personal meaning maps and were interviewed immediately after natural science...

Knowledge-based inspection:modelling complex processes with the integrated Safeguards Modelling Method (iSMM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abazi, F.

2011-01-01

Increased level of complexity in almost every discipline and operation today raises the demand for knowledge in order to successfully run an organization whether to generate profit or to attain a non-profit mission. Traditional way of transferring knowledge to information systems rich in data structures and complex algorithms continue to hinder the ability to swiftly turnover concepts into operations. Diagrammatic modelling commonly applied in engineering in order to represent concepts or reality remains to be an excellent way of converging knowledge from domain experts. The nuclear verification domain represents ever more a matter which has great importance to the World safety and security. Demand for knowledge about nuclear processes and verification activities used to offset potential misuse of nuclear technology will intensify with the growth of the subject technology. This Doctoral thesis contributes with a model-based approach for representing complex process such as nuclear inspections. The work presented contributes to other domains characterized with knowledge intensive and complex processes. Based on characteristics of a complex process a conceptual framework was established as the theoretical basis for creating a number of modelling languages to represent the domain. The integrated Safeguards Modelling Method (iSMM) is formalized through an integrated meta-model. The diagrammatic modelling languages represent the verification domain and relevant nuclear verification aspects. Such a meta-model conceptualizes the relation between practices of process management, knowledge management and domain specific verification principles. This fusion is considered as necessary in order to create quality processes. The study also extends the formalization achieved through a meta-model by contributing with a formalization language based on Pattern Theory. Through the use of graphical and mathematical constructs of the theory, process structures are formalized enhancing

Integral Hellmann--Feynman analysis of nonisoelectronic processes and the determination of local ionization potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simons, G.

1975-01-01

The integral Hellmann--Feynmann theorem is extended to apply to nonisoelectronic processes. A local ionization potential formula is proposed, and test calculations on three different approximate helium wavefunctions are reported which suggest that it may be numerically superior to the standard difference of expectation values. Arguments for the physical utility of the new concept are presented, and an integral Hellmann--Feynman analysis of transition energies is begun

Integrating technologies for effective knowledge management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beaugrand, F.S.; Curtis, T.A. [Public Petroleum Data Model, PPDM Association, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2002-06-01

In order to succeed in today's business environment, effective knowledge management strategies are needed along with effective tools to solve real business problems. Relational databases provide accessible and practical tools that can be used to manage corporate knowledge assets. However, technology is growing so rapidly that it is difficult and too expensive for individual corporations to pursue each line of development independently. Collaborative efforts are needed to improve access to shared knowledge. The PPDM Association is an international not for profit standards body that is working collaboratively with the petroleum exploration and production industry to develop standards for managing data and knowledge, spatially enabling data, standardizing data content and data exchange. The PPDM Association provides a vendor-neutral environment for development, technical support and a methodology for designing, developing and publishing technical deliverables.

Fast evaluation of solid harmonic Gaussian integrals for local resolution-of-the-identity methods and range-separated hybrid functionals

Science.gov (United States)

Golze, Dorothea; Benedikter, Niels; Iannuzzi, Marcella; Wilhelm, Jan; Hutter, Jürg

2017-01-01

An integral scheme for the efficient evaluation of two-center integrals over contracted solid harmonic Gaussian functions is presented. Integral expressions are derived for local operators that depend on the position vector of one of the two Gaussian centers. These expressions are then used to derive the formula for three-index overlap integrals where two of the three Gaussians are located at the same center. The efficient evaluation of the latter is essential for local resolution-of-the-identity techniques that employ an overlap metric. We compare the performance of our integral scheme to the widely used Cartesian Gaussian-based method of Obara and Saika (OS). Non-local interaction potentials such as standard Coulomb, modified Coulomb, and Gaussian-type operators, which occur in range-separated hybrid functionals, are also included in the performance tests. The speed-up with respect to the OS scheme is up to three orders of magnitude for both integrals and their derivatives. In particular, our method is increasingly efficient for large angular momenta and highly contracted basis sets.

Knowledge Production beyond Local and National Blindspots: Remedying Professional Ocularcentrism of Diversity in Music Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Westerlund, Heidi; Karlsen, Sidsel

2017-01-01

In this article, we argue that mainstream discourses of diversity in music education are ocularcentric; that is, they provide a one-sided way of understanding diversity that has prevented music educators from seeing our biases. In remedying these local and national professional blindspots, we propose transnational knowledge production, which we…

Design of CIAO, a research program to support the development of an integrated approach to prevent overweight and obesity in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

van Koperen, Marije Tm; van der Kleij, Rianne Mjj; Renders, Carry Cm; Crone, Matty Mr; Hendriks, Anna-Marie Am; Jansen, Maria M; van de Gaar, Vivian Vm; Raat, Hein Jh; Ruiter, Emilie Elm; Molleman, Gerard Grm; Schuit, Jantine Aj; Seidell, Jacob Jc

2014-01-01

The aim of this paper is to describe the research aims, concepts and methods of the research Consortium Integrated Approach of Overweight (CIAO). CIAO is a concerted action of five Academic Collaborative Centres, local collaborations between academic institutions, regional public health services, local authorities and other relevant sectors in the Netherlands. Prior research revealed lacunas in knowledge of and skills related to five elements of the integrated approach of overweight prevention in children (based upon the French EPODE approach), namely political support, parental education, implementation, social marketing and evaluation. CIAO aims to gain theoretical and practical insight of these elements through five sub-studies and to develop, based on these data, a framework for monitoring and evaluation. For this research program, mixed methods are used in all the five sub-studies. First, problem specification through literature research and consultation of stakeholders, experts, health promotion specialists, parents and policy makers will be carried out. Based on this information, models, theoretical frameworks and practical instruments will be developed, tested and evaluated in the communities that implement the integrated approach to prevent overweight in children. Knowledge obtained from these studies and insights from experts and stakeholders will be combined to create an evaluation framework to evaluate the integrated approach at central, local and individual levels that will be applicable to daily practice. This innovative research program stimulates sub-studies to collaborate with local stakeholders and to share and integrate their knowledge, methodology and results. Therefore, the output of this program (both knowledge and practical tools) will be matched and form building blocks of a blueprint for a local evidence- and practice-based integrated approach towards prevention of overweight in children. The output will then support various communities to

Knowledge and Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul

Assumptions about the knowledge held by economic agents have been an integral part of the theory of economic organization since its inception. However, recent work—here called “knowledge governance”—has more explicitly highlighted knowledge as both an independent and dependent variable. Thus......, knowledge may also be seen as being caused by governance mechanisms and structures; specifically, incentives, allocations of decision rights, organizational structure and so on influence the search for knowledge, and the creation, sharing and integration of knowledge. More philosophically, the concern...... with the role of knowledge in the context of economic organization prompts a reevaluation of a number of the fundamental assumptions that are often used to guide theory-building in the economics of organization (e.g., Bayesian and game theoretical foundations)....

Understanding the role of waste prevention in local waste management: A literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zacho, Kristina O; Mosgaard, Mette A

2016-10-01

Local waste management has so far been characterised by end-of-pipe solutions, landfilling, incineration, and recycling. End-of-pipe solutions build on a different mind-set than life cycle-based approaches, and for this reason, local waste managers are reluctant to consider strategies for waste prevention. To accelerate the transition of waste and resource management towards a more integrated management, waste prevention needs to play a larger role in the local waste management. In this review article, we collect knowledge from the scientific community on waste prevention of relevance to local waste management. We analyse the trends in the waste prevention literature by organising the literature into four categories. The results indicate an increasing interest in waste prevention, but not much literature specifically concerns the integration of prevention into the local waste management. However, evidence from the literature can inform local waste management on the prevention potential; the environmental and social effects of prevention; how individuals in households can be motivated to reduce waste; and how the effects of prevention measures can be monitored. Nevertheless, knowledge is still lacking on local waste prevention, especially regarding the methods for monitoring and how local waste management systems can be designed to encourage waste reduction in the households. We end the article with recommendations for future research. The literature review can be useful for both practitioners in the waste sector and for academics seeking an overview of previous research on waste prevention. © The Author(s) 2016.

Integration of Local Hydrology into Regional Hydrologic Simulation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Van Zee, R. J.; Lal, W. A.

2002-05-01

South Florida hydrology is dominated by the Central and South Florida (C&SF) Project that is managed to provide flood protection, water supply and environmental protection. A complex network of levees canals and structures provide these services to the individual drainage basins. The landscape varies widely across the C&SF system, with corresponding differences in the way water is managed within each basin. Agricultural areas are managed for optimal crop production. Urban areas maximize flood protection while maintaining minimum water levels to protect adjacent wetlands and local water supplies. "Natural" areas flood and dry out in response to the temporal distribution of rainfall. The evaluation of planning, regulation and operational issues require access to a simulation model that captures the effects of both regional and local hydrology. The Regional Simulation Model (RSM) uses a "pseudo-cell" approach to integrate local hydrology within the context of a regional hydrologic system. A 2-dimensional triangulated mesh is used to represent the regional surface and ground water systems and a 1-dimensional canal network is superimposed onto this mesh. The movement of water is simulated using a finite volume formulation with a diffusive wave approximation. Each cell in the triangulated mesh has a "pseudo-cell" counterpart, which represents the same area as the cell, but it is conceptualized such that it simulates the localized hydrologic conditions Protocols have been established to provide an interface between a cell and its pseudo-cell counterpart. . A number of pseudo-cell types have already been developed and tested in the simulation of Water Conservation Area 1 and several have been proposed to deal with specific local issues in the Southwest Florida Feasibility Study. This presentation will provide an overview of the overall RSM design, describe the relationship between cells and pseudo-cells, and illustrate how pseudo-cells are be used to simulate agriculture

Integration of anatomical and external response mappings explains crossing effects in tactile localization: A probabilistic modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Badde, Stephanie; Heed, Tobias; Röder, Brigitte

2016-04-01

To act upon a tactile stimulus its original skin-based, anatomical spatial code has to be transformed into an external, posture-dependent reference frame, a process known as tactile remapping. When the limbs are crossed, anatomical and external location codes are in conflict, leading to a decline in tactile localization accuracy. It is unknown whether this impairment originates from the integration of the resulting external localization response with the original, anatomical one or from a failure of tactile remapping in crossed postures. We fitted probabilistic models based on these diverging accounts to the data from three tactile localization experiments. Hand crossing disturbed tactile left-right location choices in all experiments. Furthermore, the size of these crossing effects was modulated by stimulus configuration and task instructions. The best model accounted for these results by integration of the external response mapping with the original, anatomical one, while applying identical integration weights for uncrossed and crossed postures. Thus, the model explained the data without assuming failures of remapping. Moreover, performance differences across tasks were accounted for by non-individual parameter adjustments, indicating that individual participants' task adaptation results from one common functional mechanism. These results suggest that remapping is an automatic and accurate process, and that the observed localization impairments in touch result from a cognitively controlled integration process that combines anatomically and externally coded responses.

Contribution of local knowledge to understand socio-hydrological dynamics. Examples from a study in Senegal river valley

Science.gov (United States)

Bruckmann, Laurent

2017-04-01

In developing countries many watersheds are low monitored. However, rivers and its floodplains provides ecosystem services to societies, especially for agriculture, grazing and fishing. This uses of rivers and floodplains offer to communities an important local knowledge about hydrological dynamics. This knowledge can be useful to researchers studying ecological or hydrological processes. This presentation aims to discuss and present the interest of using qualitative data from surveys and interviews to understand relations between society and hydrology in floodplain from developing countries, but also to understand changes in hydrological dynamics. This communication is based on a PhD thesis held on from 2012 and 2016, that analyzes socio-ecological changes in the floodplain of the Senegal river floodplain following thirty years of transboundary water management. The results of this work along Senegal river valley suggest that the use of social data and qualitative study are beneficial in understanding the hydrological dynamics in two dimensions. First, it established the importance of perception of hydrological dynamics, particularly floods, on local water management and socio-agricultural trajectories. This perception of people is strictly derived from ecosystems services provided by river and its floodplain. Second, surveys have enlightened new questions concerning the hydrology of the river that are often cited by people, like a decrease of flood water fertility. This type of socio-hydrological study, combining hydrological and qualitative data, has great potential for guiding water management policies. Using local knowledge in their analyzes, researchers also legitimize river users, who are for the most part forgotten by water policies.

Influence of Statins locally applied from orthopedic implants on osseous integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauly Stephan

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Simvastatin increases the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2 in osteoblasts, therefore it is important to investigate the influence of statins on bone formation, fracture healing and implant integration. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Simvastatin, locally applied from intramedullary coated and bioactive implants, on bone integration using biomechanical and histomorphometrical analyses. Methods Eighty rats received retrograde nailing of the femur with titanium implants: uncoated vs. polymer-only (poly(D,L-lactide vs. polymer plus drug coated (either Simvastatin low- or high dosed; “SIM low/ high”. Femurs were harvested after 56 days for radiographic and histomorphometric or biomechanical analysis (push-out. Results Radiographic analysis revealed no pathological findings for animals of the control and SIM low dose group. However, n=2/10 animals of the SIM high group showed osteolysis next to the implant without evidence of bacterial infection determined by microbiological analysis. Biomechanical results showed a significant decrease in fixation strength for SIM high coated implants vs. the control groups (uncoated and PDLLA. Histomorphometry revealed a significantly reduced total as well as direct bone/implant contact for SIM high- implants vs. controls (uncoated and PDLLA-groups. Total contact was reduced for SIM low vs. uncoated controls. Significantly reduced new bone formation was measured around SIM high coated implants vs. both control groups. Conclusions This animal study suggests impaired implant integration with local application of Simvastatin from intramedullary titanium implants after 8 weeks when compared to uncoated or carrier-only coated controls.

A Structural Knowledge Representation Approach in Emergency Knowledge Reorganization

OpenAIRE

Wang, Qingquan; Rong, Lili

2007-01-01

Facing complicate problems in emergency responses, decision makers should acquire sufficient background knowledge for efficient decision-making. Emergency knowledge acquired can be a kind of special product that is transferred among emergency decision makers and functional departments. The processing of knowledge product motivates the emergency knowledge decomposition and event-oriented knowledge integration, i.e. knowledge reorganization. Supported by the semantic power of category theory, t...

INTEGRATING CASE-BASED REASONING, KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH AND TSP ALGORITHM FOR MINIMUM TOUR FINDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Erfani

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Imagine you have traveled to an unfamiliar city. Before you start your daily tour around the city, you need to know a good route. In Network Theory (NT, this is the traveling salesman problem (TSP. A dynamic programming algorithm is often used for solving this problem. However, when the road network of the city is very complicated and dense, which is usually the case, it will take too long for the algorithm to find the shortest path. Furthermore, in reality, things are not as simple as those stated in AT. For instance, the cost of travel for the same part of the city at different times may not be the same. In this project, we have integrated TSP algorithm with AI knowledge-based approach and case-based reasoning in solving the problem. With this integration, knowledge about the geographical information and past cases are used to help TSP algorithm in finding a solution. This approach dramatically reduces the computation time required for minimum tour finding.

Expectation values of local fields for a two-parameter family of integrable models and related perturbed conformal field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baseilhac, P.; Fateev, V.A.

1998-01-01

We calculate the vacuum expectation values of local fields for the two-parameter family of integrable field theories introduced and studied by Fateev (1996). Using this result we propose an explicit expression for the vacuum expectation values of local operators in parafermionic sine-Gordon models and in integrable perturbed SU(2) coset conformal field theories. (orig.)

Closed-Loop Lifecycle Management of Service and Product in the Internet of Things: Semantic Framework for Knowledge Integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Min-Jung; Grozel, Clément; Kiritsis, Dimitris

2016-07-08

This paper describes our conceptual framework of closed-loop lifecycle information sharing for product-service in the Internet of Things (IoT). The framework is based on the ontology model of product-service and a type of IoT message standard, Open Messaging Interface (O-MI) and Open Data Format (O-DF), which ensures data communication. (1) BACKGROUND: Based on an existing product lifecycle management (PLM) methodology, we enhanced the ontology model for the purpose of integrating efficiently the product-service ontology model that was newly developed; (2) METHODS: The IoT message transfer layer is vertically integrated into a semantic knowledge framework inside which a Semantic Info-Node Agent (SINA) uses the message format as a common protocol of product-service lifecycle data transfer; (3) RESULTS: The product-service ontology model facilitates information retrieval and knowledge extraction during the product lifecycle, while making more information available for the sake of service business creation. The vertical integration of IoT message transfer, encompassing all semantic layers, helps achieve a more flexible and modular approach to knowledge sharing in an IoT environment; (4) Contribution: A semantic data annotation applied to IoT can contribute to enhancing collected data types, which entails a richer knowledge extraction. The ontology-based PLM model enables as well the horizontal integration of heterogeneous PLM data while breaking traditional vertical information silos; (5) CONCLUSION: The framework was applied to a fictive case study with an electric car service for the purpose of demonstration. For the purpose of demonstrating the feasibility of the approach, the semantic model is implemented in Sesame APIs, which play the role of an Internet-connected Resource Description Framework (RDF) database.

An Object-oriented Knowledge Link Model for General Knowledge Management

OpenAIRE

Xiao-hong, CHEN; Bang-chuan, LAI

2005-01-01

The knowledge link is the basic on knowledge share and the indispensable part in knowledge standardization management. In this paper, a object-oriented knowledge link model is proposed for general knowledge management by using objectoriented representation based on knowledge levels system. In the model, knowledge link is divided into general knowledge link and integrated knowledge with corresponding link properties and methods. What’s more, its BNF syntax is described and designed.

E-CITY KNOWWARE: KNOWLEDGE MIDDLEWARE FOR COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamer E. El-Diraby

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The realization of e-city is a necessary component for achieving the green city. This paper outlines a vision for an e-city platform that is based on knowledge brokerage in the green city. The proposed platform will be a venue for creating dynamic virtual organizations to harness collective intelligence of knowledge hubs to analyze and manage sustainability knowledge in urban areas. Knowledge assets of participating organizations will be presented in three dimensions: process structures, human profile and software systems. These three facets of knowledge will be accessible and viewable through a self-describing mechanism. Cities can post their geospatial and real-time data on the net. Relevant environmental and energy-use data will be extracted using topic maps and data extraction services. Local decision makers can synchronize work processes (from participating hubs to create an integrated workflow for a new ad hoc virtual organization to collaboratively analyze the multifaceted nature of sustainable decision making. An e-city platform is envisioned in this paper that will be realized through intelligent, agent-like, domain-specific middleware (KnowWare. Through triangulation between people, software and processes, these KnowWare will discover, negotiate, integrate, reason and communicate knowledge (related to energy and environment from across organizations to the right person at the right time. KnowWare is fundamentally, a portal of social semantic services that resides on a cloud computing infrastructure. Knowware exploits thee main tools: 1 existing ontologies to represent knowledge in a semantic manner, 2 topic maps to profile sources of knowledge and match these to the complex needs of sustainability analysis, 3 domain-specific middleware for knowledge integration and reasoning.

The Impact of Socio-environmental Projects of Jewish and Bedouin Youth in Israel on Students' Local Knowledge and Views of Each Other

Science.gov (United States)

Alkaher, Iris; Tal, Tali

2014-02-01

This study is part of a first study of collaborative socio-environmental projects that engage Jewish and Arab students in Israel in learning about their local environment and about each other through outdoor learning and environmental action. We used ideas of social learning and environmental citizenship to frame our research. We investigated students' knowledge regarding their local environment and their knowledge of each other's community. We also studied the participants' views regarding their project-partners'environmental knowledge, awareness and behaviour in comparison to their own. Initially, differences were found regarding various aspects of the students' socio-environmental knowledge and in students' views of their counterparts' environmentalism. At the end of the projects, students showed better understanding of local socio-environmental issues and demonstrated changes in their original views towards the environmental awareness and behaviour of their counterparts. These findings suggest that projects which involve students from segregated communities not only promote environmental awareness but contribute to a reduction in mutual prejudices. We suggest that the differences we found are not related to ethnicity, but rather to students' socioeconomic status and experience in environmental education programmes.